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

A California Tow Truck Driver Dies Along a Freeway After a Collision with a Lumber Truck

July 7, 2020 | Law Offices of Galine, Frye, Fitting & Frangos

There are many different ways that a tow truck can become involved in an accident while assisting a motorist. Sometimes, the errors causing the crash are those of the tow truck driver, while other times it is another driver who is negligent. Either way, if you have been injured in a tow truck accident that was the result of someone else’s negligence, then you may be able to receive compensation through the courts. Be sure to contact an experienced San Mateo car accident attorney without delay to discuss your circumstances.

Back in late June, a tow truck driver affiliated with the Freeway Service Patrol was involved in such an accident. The tow truck was responding to a vehicle in need of assistance on I-280 in Redwood City, according to a KPIX report.

As the truck driver assisted the motorist, a lumber truck slammed into the tow truck and the driver, killing him. The police indicated to KPIX that they did not believe that the 25-year-old driver of the lumber truck was drunk or on drugs at the time of the crash.

If I Contract COVID-19 at a Business Establishment, Do I Have a Premises Liability Case under California Law?

June 26, 2020 | Law Offices of Galine, Frye, Fitting & Frangos

News reports have revealed a new surge of COVID-19 cases. CNN reported that, on June 23, California logged more than 7,000 new cases. That was a new record. The old record? Just over 5,000… on June 22. It’s clear the dangers of COVID-19 aren’t going away anytime soon, and that may lead you to a question: what happens if I become infected as a result of visiting a store, restaurant or other establishment? Do I have any legal recourse for that business’s failure to protect me? Depending on the facts of your case, you may have a basis for a civil lawsuit, so it is worth your while to consult a knowledgeable San Mateo personal injury attorney if that happens to you.

In California, as in every other state, there’s something called premises liability law. This is the area of law that applies to things like “slip-and-fall” cases, “trip-and-fall” cases, swimming pool accidents or a bedbug lawsuit against a hotel. It can apply in most situations where someone responsible for a property failed to act in a reasonable manner to keep the property reasonably safe. If there was a hazard that posed a foreseeable risk of harm and the person or entity who owned, leased, managed or controlled that property knew or should have known about the danger, but failed to take proper steps to address the hazard or else to post proper warnings about the dangerous condition, then that’s potentially a case of premises liability.

In the circumstance of a COVID-19 infection, the hazard (the coronavirus) is obviously well-known in the general public, as is the potential risk of harm (infection.) Nevertheless, a successful case will still require the harmed individual to prove that this general knowledge met the law’s standard for actual notice or constructive notice on the part of the property manager.

Malicious Conduct and Punitive Damages Awards in Your California Injury Case

June 19, 2020 | Law Offices of Galine, Frye, Fitting & Frangos

Most of the time, your personal injury lawsuit will assert that the defendant was “negligent” As the term implies, the defendant’s liability comes from having neglectfully done something they shouldn’t have, or neglectfully failing to do something they should have. Sometimes, though, a defendant’s misconduct is more nefarious. They may do something so bad that the law considers it to be “despicable.” When that happens, the proof you give the court may entitle you to an even greater sum of damages. To make sure you’re getting everything you deserve from your injury case, be sure you’ve obtained representation from an experienced San Mateo injury attorney.

A terrible pedestrian accident case from Southern California, reported by KTLA, is an example. Y.C., a graduate student at Pepperdine University, intended to shop with her mother at a supermarket, but they never made it to the store. As they crossed in a Calabasas crosswalk, a truck crashed into them. The vehicle ran over Y.C.’s leg and the mother’s body. While Y.C. suffered serious harm, the mother’s injuries were fatal.

What happened next was where the case became unusual. The driver of the pickup stopped, exited the vehicle, drug the mother’s body toward the curb, got back into her truck, drove a short distance, parked along an adjacent road, then returned on foot. When the California Highway Patrol arrived, the driver told the officers that she simply encountered the fallen women as she drove to the supermarket, and was not involved in the accident, according to the report.

How a California Accident Attorney Can Help if Your Crash Injuries Cause an Extended Absence from Work

June 12, 2020 | Law Offices of Galine, Frye, Fitting & Frangos

Anytime you’re hurt in an auto accident, it is a scary time, marked by physical pain along with emotional stress. That emotional toll can become exponentially larger if the injuries you suffered are the type that could negatively impact your ability to continue performing your job. When that happens, you are probably filled with fear and uncertainty. If your vehicle accident injuries will prevent, or significantly delay, your returning to work, you need the right San Mateo accident injury attorney on your side so that you can get the compensation you need.

M.B. was one of those people whose accident dramatically altered her personal life and her work life. A tow truck driver who failed to stop for a red light slammed into her in an intersection, allegedly breaking her wrist, causing two fractures in her back and damaging her neck. The back injury did not require treatment, but the wrist injury required one surgery already and a fusion surgery was expected to be necessary in the future. The woman’s neck injury also required surgery, according to her complaint. (Orange County Superior Court Case No. 30-2018-01020990.)

Intersection accidents like M.B.’s are often serious. Federal statistics compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) revealed that more than one-third (36%) of crashes nationwide were intersection-related. NHTSA’s statistics for California were similar, with more than one-quarter (26%) of all fatal crashes in this state in 2018 being intersection-related.

How to Overcome Defense Claims that You’re ‘Faking It’ and Achieve Success in Your Low-Impact California Auto Accident Case

June 5, 2020 | Law Offices of Galine, Frye, Fitting & Frangos

Chances are, you’ve seen a TV or movie scene like this: A vehicle is lightly tapped from behind by another vehicle. An occupant of the lead vehicle emerges screaming, “Oh! My neck!” in a very exaggerated way… or maybe that occupant reappears the next day or next week wearing a conspicuously massive and bulky neck brace or a halo device. While this may all be sight gags and laughs on TV and the movies, the cold reality is that low-impact crashes can, and do, cause people to suffer serious injuries every day. If you’ve been injured in a low-impact crash, don’t let the lack of massive skid marks or extensive vehicle damage trick you into thinking you can’t recover the compensation you need. By reaching out to the right San Mateo car accident attorney, you can obtain the evidence you need to get a full recovery for the harm you’ve suffered.

When you’re injured in a low-speed accident, you can reasonably expect that the defense may argue to the jury that you are “faking it” or are exaggerating your injuries for a larger “payday.” The defense may argue that the accident occurred at such an extremely low speed that the injuries you’ve asserted couldn’t possibly be the result of that crash. The defense team knows that, just like many of the rest of us, at least some of the jurors have seen the movie/TV scenes with the gigantic neck braces and halos, and have heard the (usually false or distorted) “horror” stories of people collecting multi-million-dollar awards for trifling injuries.

The reality is, though, that the science disputes this idea that low-impact collisions can’t ever cause serious injuries. Research from a branch of the National Institutes of Health shows that there “does not seem to be an absolute speed or amount of damage a vehicle sustains for a person to experience injury.” The research’s crash tests revealed that “a change of vehicle velocity of 4 km/hr (2.5 mph) may produce occupant symptoms.”

Safety Research — and Recent California Accidents — Clearly Show: Speed Kills

May 28, 2020 | Law Offices of Galine, Frye, Fitting & Frangos

Federal statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) show just how dangerous – and deadly – speeding is. NHTSA’s information showed that speeding killed more than 9,300 people in 2018 and was a factor in more than one-quarter of all traffic deaths in 2017. If you’ve been hurt by a driver who was speeding, whether you were in another vehicle or you were that driver’s passenger, you may be entitled to significant compensation. You should promptly act to retain a skilled San Mateo car accident attorney, as you only have a limited time to file a lawsuit and pursue the recovery you need.

Two recent accidents in Northern California highlight just how deadly speeding can be. Earlier in May, a terrible accident in San Jose left four young people in their 20s dead, according to CBS SF Bay Area. The report indicated that the driver of a 2005 Dodge SUV was traveling southbound on Highway 85 when he lost control, causing the SUV to overturn several times. The crash threw two people from the vehicle. Three died at the scene and a fourth died at a nearby hospital. All were either age 25 or 26.

Another driver on Highway 85, whom the Dodge passed shortly before the crash, told CBS that the driver was driving erratically and the CHP told CBS that “we believe this vehicle was at excessive speeds and was weaving,” The police also believed that the driver of the SUV was under the influence, which is why he is facing multiple criminal charges for murder.

Several Recent Serious Truck Crashes in California are Important Reminders of the Dangers of Fatigued Truckers

May 19, 2020 | Law Offices of Galine, Frye, Fitting & Frangos

The headlines pop up with alarming frequency. “Semi-truck driver falls asleep at wheel, crashes causing serious injury to passenger.” “Highway 99 lane closed after truck crash, fuel spill near Merced.” “Trucker pleads guilty to California crash that killed 13.” A semi-truck driver operating his vehicle in a fatigued state is one of the biggest dangers on the road. Crashes involving semi-trucks often inflict major injuries and massive harm to those involved… and to their families. If you or a loved one was hurt in an accident due to the negligence of a commercial truck driver, you may be entitled to receive substantial compensation from the driver, the trucking company and others. An experienced San Mateo truck accident attorney can provide invaluable help to you as you take on these companies and pursue the recovery you need.

In the three California crashes mentioned above, they all had one thing in common: a truck driver who was asleep (or claimed to be asleep) at the wheel at the time of the accident. The most recent one, which just happened earlier this month, involved only the big rig and occurred in San Luis Obispo County. Once the driver fell asleep, the truck went off the road and landed on its side. The passenger inside the truck’s cab suffered major injuries. The “cause of the crash is believed to be driver fatigue,” according to a KSBY report.

Last month, the scene was the San Joaquin Valley. Authorities were forced to close part of Highway 99 after the driver of a northbound fuel tanker fell asleep and jackknifed. The driver said he fell asleep and neither drugs nor alcohol were believed by CHP to have been factors, according to the Merced Sun-Star. Fortunately, no one was seriously injured in that crash.

A California Jury Awards $21M to a Farm Worker Permanently Paralyzed in Two-Vehicle Crash

May 13, 2020 | Law Offices of Galine, Frye, Fitting & Frangos

Sometimes, after reading a news headline about an accident injury victim who recovers a damages award in the tens of millions of dollars, you may wonder if awards like that are really legitimate or just an instance of an out-of-control jury. The reality is that, very often, these massive awards are entirely justifiable and appropriate! There are many ways that a vehicle accident can inflict a huge amount of damage on those hurt. One scenario where that is definitely a realistic possibility occurs when the injury victim is a young income earner whose injuries have left him permanently and totally disabled and requiring a lifetime of 24/7/365 care. If that happens to you or your loved one, it is essential to your family’s short-term and long-term well-being and financial security that your civil lawsuit gets you the full recovery you deserve. To aid in that goal, be sure you have an experienced San Mateo car accident attorney on your side.

J.M. was one of those people who suffered a catastrophic injury through no fault of his own. J.M., a farm worker in the Fresno area, was headed home from work one day when the van in which he was riding stopped at a railroad crossing. The driver of a Dodge pickup truck, C.B., slammed into the back of the stopped van going roughly 55 mph, according to a Fresno Bee report.

The massive injuries he suffered left J.M. paralyzed, according to the report. The only offer of settlement the injured man received was a sum of $25,000, which represented the policy limit of C.B.’s auto insurance coverage.

The Importance of Having a Properly Drafted Statutory Settlement Offer in Your California Auto Accident Case

May 6, 2020 | Law Offices of Galine, Frye, Fitting & Frangos

There are so many areas where a knowledgeable San Mateo injury attorney can provide you with invaluable advice and assistance with your accident case. Your experienced attorney can give you essential guidance in assessing what your case is “worth,” and guide you in deciding how much to offer in settlement, as well as whether or not to accept a settlement offer from the defense.

A recent San Francisco accident case is a helpful illustration of how important these things can be. The plaintiff, C.A., was significantly injured an accident involving himself and X.L. Roughly two years later, C.A. sued X.L. for negligence.

In California, settlement of disputes like personal injury matters is encouraged by the courts. To further that goal, state law has Code of Civil Procedure Section 998. The section says that if you, as an injured plaintiff, make a qualifying settlement offer that the defense rejects and then, at the end of your trial, your damages award is more than 25% more than your settlement offer, then you may be entitled to recover certain additional costs and fees.

A Recent Bay Area Accident Kills One, And Reminds All of Us of the Dangers California Motorcyclists Face on the Road

April 28, 2020 | Law Offices of Galine, Frye, Fitting & Frangos

California has more than 800,000 motorcycles registered in the state and has the largest volume of motorcycle traffic in the U.S. A lot of those motorcycles are here in the Bay Area. Motorcyclists are under several elevated risks on the road, as drivers may be more likely to overlook them, and accidents involving motorcycles may lead to more serious harm to motorcyclists and their passengers. Whether you’re driving a massive SUV or a basic motorcycle, other drivers still have a legal obligation to be attentive and avoid crashing into you. If you were hurt in a motorcycle accident, be sure you contact a knowledgeable San Mateo motorcycle accident attorney to get the advice you need about your legal rights and options.

A recent Bay Area accident is a tragic example of how serious motorcycle accidents often are. According to KPIX, M.D. was a motorcyclist traveling on a six-lane road in South San Jose. As he headed north, the driver of a southbound Jeep attempted a left-hand turn onto a two-lane road. The Jeep crossed directly into the motorcycle’s path and the vehicles slammed into one another. The impact threw M.D. from his bike and he died at the scene, according to the report. Police quickly ruled out intoxication as a possible cause of the accident.

How does a driver who was neither drunk nor high turn right into the path of an oncoming vehicle? There are several possible explanations. Many drivers are guilty of driving while distracted, with their cell phone or other electronic device serving as the distraction. Other drivers may drive with a certain degree of diminished attention that, while allowing them to see cars or trucks, allows them to miss vehicles like motorcycles.