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

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.

A California Motorcyclist Recovers $23M in Damages After a Catastrophic Accident Ended in a Leg Amputation

March 16, 2021 | Law Offices of Galine, Frye, Fitting & Frangos

Catastrophic injury accidents are undeniably traumatizing. One day, you are an “ordinary” person living an “ordinary” life and then, in the blink of an eye, all of that is taken away. When that happens, you may have endured excruciating pain. Your injuries may prevent you from ever again doing the jobs you’d done all your life, and they may forever alter what you are able to do for your family. These kinds of accidents — and the massive harm they cause — may create a need for especially large amounts of compensation to address all of the damage done. If that kind of accident has impacted you, be sure you have the right San Mateo vehicle accident attorney on your side to help you get all the compensation you deserve.

S.R. was one of those catastrophically injured people. The 40-year-old husband and hotel housekeeping worker was driving his motorcycle in Studio City when a Dodge Ram pickup truck crashed into him at an intersection. Excruciating pain forced him to lay his bike down on the pavement, according to mynewsla.com.

Despite doctors’ best efforts, they were unable to save S.R.’s foot and lower leg. He underwent a below-the-knee amputation roughly a week after the crash, according to the report.

A Tale of Two Outcomes: What a Pair of California Injury Cases Can Teach About the Importance of Good Legal Representation

March 5, 2021 | Law Offices of Galine, Frye, Fitting & Frangos

Statistics show that people who hire an attorney to handle their accident case come away better for it. The Insurance Research Council found that of the people injured in auto accidents who subsequently sued and settled, the settlements achieved by people with attorneys were more than triple the size of the settlements obtained by people without attorneys. In short, while retaining legal representation may seem daunting at first, you’ll likely find that you can’t afford not to have a skilled San Mateo injury attorney on your side.

To get an idea of what a huge difference this can make, let’s look at a pair of California cases. One was a 2015 Santa Monica bus accident in which the Court of Appeal issued a ruling earlier this year. The other was a more recent bus accident in Fresno.

In some ways, the cases were exceptionally similar. As noted above, both occurred aboard buses. Both of those buses were city-owned. Both of the injured passengers were people who utilized the assistance of wheelchairs, and both were hurt when their bus drivers hit the brakes suddenly and that abrupt braking sent them tumbling from their wheelchairs onto the floor of their buses.

How a Southern California Mother Managed to Revive Her Case Against a Local Government Following Her Son’s Fatal Bicycle Accident

February 25, 2021 | Law Offices of Galine, Frye, Fitting & Frangos

We write frequently in this blog about identifying all of the people and/or entities who are potentially liable to you in a personal injury lawsuit. It’s hard to overstate just how important this can be, especially if you’ve suffered extensive harm. If you have suffered millions of dollars in damages, then you need to get more than just a few thousand dollars. However, a few thousand dollars may be all you get if you’re proceeding only against a driver with very few assets and a minimum-coverage auto insurance policy. That’s where a skilled San Mateo injury attorney helps, as wecan put our extensive experience and knowledge of the law to work potentially finding entities or people who have possible liability to you that you would not have identified.

Another way this can help is if the driver who hurt you (or killed your loved one) didn’t do anything wrong at all. If that’s true, then that driver isn’t liable and owes you nothing. However, that doesn’t mean there may not still be others out there against whom you can bring a successful legal action.

A tragic bicycle accident case from Southern California is a good example of how this works. An engineer from Redondo Beach was bicycling through Rancho Palos Verdes when his bicycle crashed into a big-rig truck from a major moving company. According to a bikinginla.com report, the moving truck made a right turn on a green light and the bicyclist “apparently rounded a blind curve” and was unable to stop before hitting the semi-truck. The bicyclist died at the scene.