San Mateo Injury Lawyers Blog — Published by San Mateo, California Injury Attorneys — Law Offices of Galine, Frye, Fitting & Frangos

Your Legal Options in California if You, as a Pedestrian, Have Been Hurt by a Hit-and-Run Driver

May 27, 2021 | Law Offices of Galine, Frye, Fitting & Frangos

Anytime you are a pedestrian who was injured in a vehicle accident (or you have a loved one who was killed in a pedestrian collision,) it is definitely a painful, stressful, and difficult time. That stress inevitably goes even higher if the driver who hit you or your loved one fled the scene of the accident without stopping. While being hurt by a hit-and-run driver may make your injury lawsuit case more challenging, your case is far from impossible. A skilled San Mateo pedestrian accident attorney can help you get the most out of your case, even if it involved a hit-and-run driver.

In Redwood City, a recent one of these hit-and-run accidents proved to be fatal. According to the Palo Alto Daily Post, a male pedestrian was struck by a white cargo van in the 1600 block of El Camino Real. The driver of the van fled the scene. The pedestrian was pronounced dead at the scene.

Fortunately, in this case, law enforcement officers were able to track down the hit-and-run driver. Police used surveillance video footage from a nearby business, along with eyewitness descriptions of the van, to track down the vehicle and the driver in San Bruno. Police booked the 69-year-old driver on charges of felony hit-and-run and vehicular homicide, according to FOX 2.

Livestreaming and How it Can Play a Role in a Car Accident Case in California

May 21, 2021 | Law Offices of Galine, Frye, Fitting & Frangos

Modern technology gives us options that would have seemed unthinkable fifty, forty, or even thirty years ago. That device in the palm of your hand can give you the opportunity to have a full-on, face-to-face audio and video interaction in real time. While this can bring loved ones closer together, it also has the potential to open a live window to others’ tragedy or terror when things go wrong. As with any evolution in society and technology, there are ripple effects within the law, and that may include using a loved one’s livestream as part of your vehicle accident case. Rely on an experienced San Mateo car accident lawyer to help you best utilize all the evidence available to strengthen your case.

Not every case important to auto accident plaintiffs is itself a vehicle injury case. A sad case from Southern California is an example. One spring day, D.K., the mother of a toddler son for whom she had hired a healthcare services company to provide in-home care, opened a phone app and pulled up a livestream of the “nanny cam” installed in her son’s room.

The mother “watched and heard in shock and horror, while the incident was happening in real time,” as the nurse employed by the healthcare company allegedly hit, slapped, pinched, violently shook, and generally abused the two-year-old. The abuse allegedly caused doctors to have to remove one of the boy’s eyes, and also inflicted other serious injuries.

The Dangers Bicyclists Face Every Day Traveling Along San Mateo County’s Streets and Roadways

May 14, 2021 | Law Offices of Galine, Frye, Fitting & Frangos

Statistics show that, on average, more than 3,000 crashes occur every year in the Bay Area that involved a car and a bicycle. Too many times, those accidents were the result of a vehicle driver who was going too fast, not sufficiently attentive, or otherwise negligent in the driving of their vehicle. When that happens, you may be entitled to recover significant compensation, so you should waste no time in reaching out to an experienced San Mateo bicycle accident lawyer to find out more about the case you have.

Even more locally, a recent study looked at just San Mateo County alone. That study reviewed five years of vehicle crash data. During that five-year time span, nearly 1,200 bicyclists were hurt (nine fatally) in more than 1,250 San Mateo County crashes, according to the San Mateo Daily Journal.

In most of these bicycle accidents, a vehicle driver committed a traffic violation. The most common of those violations involved a vehicle driver who either improperly failed to yield the right of way, made an improper turn, or else was going too fast.

What to Do If You’ve Been Hurt in a Head-On Crash in California

May 8, 2021 | Law Offices of Galine, Frye, Fitting & Frangos

One of the most dangerous vehicle accident scenarios you can face is a head-on collision. Statistics from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety showed that head-on accidents had a 58% fatality rate in 2017. The causes for head-on accidents are many but almost all of them involve someone engaging in negligent or reckless conduct. If you have been hurt or have lost a loved one to one of these extremely damaging accidents, be sure to get the legal help you need by retaining a knowledgeable San Mateo car accident lawyer right away.

The Bay Area witnessed another one of these tragic events recently. According to the San Mateo County Coroner, a 25-year-old San Francisco man died as a result of a head-on collision in South San Francisco. The accident, which occurred shortly after noon, also seriously injured two other people, the San Mateo Daily Journal reported. The police did not immediately release any additional details about the crash, according to the report.

A few days later, another head-on accident yielded more tragedy. A Chevrolet SUV and a Dodge pickup truck collided head-on in Modesto. The southbound SUV, for unknown reasons, crossed into the northbound lane and the vehicles slammed head-on into one another. The two occupants of the SUV died, and the driver of the truck suffered “moderate” injuries, according to an ABC 10 report.

The Multiple Legal Actions Your Family May Need After Losing a Loved One to a Fatal Single-Vehicle Accident in California

April 28, 2021 | Law Offices of Galine, Frye, Fitting & Frangos

Recently, this blog touched upon fatal single-vehicle accidents and some of the legal issues that they can present, including ways of holding the defendant liable. Of course, getting a judgment of liability is not the end of the process. A proper outcome means also getting a full and fair sum of damages. As you are dealing with the tragic loss of a loved one, look to an experienced San Mateo auto accident lawyer to handle the legal processes and get your family the full compensation you deserve.

Santa Clara was the site of one of the latest of these fatal single-vehicle crashes. According to Patch.com, a motorcyclist traveling northbound along the San Tomas Expressway hit the center median and crashed. The motorcyclist was transported to a nearby hospital but died as a result of his injuries.

Statistics show that there generally are more than 3,000 fatal vehicle accidents every year in California and most are single-vehicle crashes.

Taking on – and Winning – an Injury Lawsuit in California Based on a Fatal Single-Vehicle Crash

April 20, 2021 | Law Offices of Galine, Frye, Fitting & Frangos

If you scan the news stories about fatal vehicle accidents, you’ll inevitably notice that a lot of the stories have something in common: the vehicle in which the deceased was traveling was the only car, truck, van, or SUV involved in the incident. In fact, statistics from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety show that, here in California, the majority of fatal vehicle accidents are single-vehicle crashes (56%). If you were hurt (or a loved one was killed) in a single-vehicle accident, there may be multiple options for getting the compensation you need, so waste no time in reaching out to a skilled San Mateo car accident lawyer.

Many times, it’s not immediately clear what caused the wreck. For example, losaltosonline.com described a recent crash in Santa Clara County thusly: “for reasons currently unknown, the 2006 Toyota Sienna minivan containing the young men left the roadway and entered the center median, where it overturned and struck several trees.” The San Diego Union-Tribune described a recent Southern California single-vehicle fatal accident this way: “Details of what caused the Cadillac sedan to hit the pole were not immediately available.”

Several factors can be triggers for fatal single-vehicle accidents. They can include a driver driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, a driver driving while distracted by a cell phone, a driver who was driving while fatigued or drowsy, a driver who was speeding, an inexperienced driver, or a driver who was navigating a road that had poor drainage or poor sightlines, among other things.

A Head-On Crash is Just the Latest Reminder of the Dangers of Distracted Driving in California

April 15, 2021 | Law Offices of Galine, Frye, Fitting & Frangos

In 2019, more than 3,100 people lost their lives on U.S. roads because a driver was driving while distracted. A California Office of Traffic Safety survey revealed that, that same year, almost 58% of the drivers surveyed indicated that they “had been hit or nearly hit by a driver who was talking or texting on a cell phone.” If you or a loved one were injured due to the actions of a distracted driver, reach out to a San Mateo car accident attorney at your earliest convenience.

One of the latest examples of this ongoing problem comes from Santa Cruz County. Back in late January, a man from Sacramento took his eyes off the road to look at his cell phone, according to the California Highway Patrol. Distracted by his phone, the driver unintentionally steered his northbound BMW across the double-yellow line of Highway 17 and into the path of a southbound transit van.

Fortunately, in this case, both drivers were able to walk away from the head-on crash, according to the Mercury News. The CHP officer who worked the crash expressed his disappointment to the Mercury News about the continued prevalence of distracted-driving accidents. “Unfortunately we do have to keep saying it, don’t we?” The officer also noted that even just the brief period of time that it takes to read a notification can be long enough to lead to an accident, according to the report.

An Accidental Gunshot Results in a $3 Million Jury Verdict in a Premises Liability Case in California

April 9, 2021 | Law Offices of Galine, Frye, Fitting & Frangos

Here in California, the law recognized several types of “duties,” which are legal obligations that people and entities have to others. One of those is the general duty every person and/or entity has to “exercise reasonable care for the safety of others.” If you are hurt because someone didn’t act reasonably to fulfill that obligation, then that failure may constitute negligence. If that negligence took place while you were on someone else’s property, then you may have a potentially winning claim for premises liability and the opportunity to collect a substantial amount in compensation. An experienced San Mateo injury attorney can help you make the most of your premises liability case.

A recent premises liability case from Southern California offers a strong reminder about just how broad this general duty is, and how firmly on the side of injured people the law is.

M.J. had elderly parents in their late 80s who lived in southern Los Angeles County, while she lived three hours away in northern Santa Barbara County. The father had multiple health problems and the mother was bedridden and had dementia.

A Former NBA Center’s Catastrophic Accident Shines a Light on Bicycle Safety Across the Country, Including California

March 30, 2021 | Law Offices of Galine, Frye, Fitting & Frangos

Statistics show that, in 2018, more than 850 people riding bicycles were killed in collisions with motor vehicles, a figure higher than any year in the previous 10 years. In 2015, there were more than 460,000 bicycle-related injuries, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Clearly, the danger bicyclists face on the road is a problem that is trending in the wrong direction. When you are hurt because a car, truck, or SUV hit your bicycle, you are almost certain to be the one who bears the brunt of the harm. As your injuries may likely be very substantial, getting everything you deserve in a lawsuit can be critical, so be sure to rely on an experienced San Mateo bicycle accident attorney to handle your case.

Over the previous decade, more than 30,000 accidents involving a bicycle and a motor vehicle have taken place just in the Bay Area. One very recent accident from outside the Bay Area has once again put bicycle safety in the spotlight.

Shawn Bradley, who played for 12 years in the National Basketball Association, suffered a catastrophic accident just one block from his home in southern Utah. As Bradley bicycled past a parked car, a driver hit him. That sent his bicycle into the parked vehicle, flipping him into the air and onto his back on the ground, according to a SI.com report.

A California Pedestrian Hit by a Car, a Truck, and an SUV Dies in Bay Area

March 23, 2021 | Law Offices of Galine, Frye, Fitting & Frangos

Any time you have lost a loved one in a pedestrian accident, your family’s loss is monumental. Sometimes, though, the facts surrounding your loved one’s death may be unclear or incomplete. When they are, you have no less need for compensation, but you may have a significantly more complex pathway to getting that compensation. Whether your case is straightforward or anything but, make sure you have a strong San Mateo injury attorney representing you to put forward the strongest possible case.

Anyone who’s watched enough crime shows or sat through first-year law school classes has probably heard the tale of the man who, extremely depressed, jumped off a building. Before he hit the ground, however, he was shot and killed instantly. The scenario is intended to probe the question, “Was this death a suicide or homicide?”

You might reasonably wonder what this fictional story has to do with your injury case. Much like this fictional circumstance, your injury case may involve unusual facts that make determining who was responsible particularly complicated and potentially unclear. A Contra Costa County accident reported by the East Bay Times presents an example of how this can happen and how it can complicate an injury case.