San Fransisco, California Personal Injury Blog

I read last week in the Sacramento Bee about a 16-year-old Waterford girl killed while riding a bicycle. Her parents have filed claims against the city of Waterford, Stanislaus County and the state of California.

As a San Francisco personal injury lawyer, I often have to acknowledge death as the tragic result of someone's negligence. As a parent, however, I can only imagine how I would cope with the worst tragedy that can befall any parent--the death of a child.  The child in this case, 16 year-old Ashley Henderson, died after she was struck by a pickup truck on February 12 while riding across Highway 132, also called Yosemite Boulevard, at Western Avenue. The particular intersection where the accident occurred has north and south stop signs, but no traffic signals.

This tragedy underscores something that I have to investigate on a regular basis.  Sometimes there may be a combination of factors that contribute to causing a collision and injury. Roadways are often poorly maintained or not built according to a city's own standards or plans. Sometimes poorly designed roads are a factor. In other instances, roadways which may have been safe when designed have now because of changed circumstances become unsafe roadways. Changes like increased traffic volume or changes in neighborhoods may make roads unsafe for bicycles. Accident history is important but not always the key.

In this case, the Bee reported that Waterford officials had hoped for traffic signals at this intersection, but budget concerns may have interfered with their plans.  Meanwhile, Caltrans had no record of a request from the city for a traffic light at this intersection. Further investigation will be required, but in the meantime, join me in urging all motorists to be especially aware that they must share the road with bicyclists.  A few seconds will not make a difference in what time you to get to your destination, but it can make all the difference by saving someone's life.

We are not representing any of the parties mentioned in this article at the time the article was posted. Our information source is cited in the article. If you were involved in this incident or a similar incident and have questions as to your rights and options, call a reputable law firm. Do not act solely upon the information provided herein. Get a consultation. The best law firms will provide a free confidential consultation to "not at fault" persons named in this article and their family members.

I told you earlier that Choulos, Choulos and Wyle, San Francisco injury attorneys, are representing the most badly injured survivor in the San Francisco Road Rage incident. His name is Rolando Casajeros. He is 39 years old and has been staying with friends in Redwood City since being released from the hospital after being run down by a car.

The alleged driver of the car, David Mark Clark, 39, of Albany, is in custody, undergoing psychiatric evaluation, awaiting charges of attempted murder aggravated assault and hit-and-run resulting in injury for his unprovoked attacks on four bicyclists in the Mission District on June 2, 2010.

In the aftermath of finding and jailing the perpetrator, it is easy to assume that the case has been "solved" and that the criminal justice system will provide retribution for Mr. Casajeros and the other victims. In one sense, this is correct. The criminal charges against Clark will grind through the justice system and if Clark is convicted he will eventually pay for his crimes.

But one much larger question must be addressed today.  Rolando Casajeros was severely injured in this attack. He suffered 12 facial fractures, bleeding on the brain, fractured his jaw, and lost teeth. He had to undergo a 19 hour surgery and has more surgeries and many, many months of long and painful healing ahead of him.

Healthy San Francisco is a City-established program that covers the actual medical expenses, but Mr. Casajeros has no way to support himself during the rehabilitation process. As I said, he is staying with generous friends in Redwood City, but he has no means of support because he will not be able to return to his job as a waiter for months. He will also need transportation to and from his physical therapy appointments

As an avid bicyclist myself I knew that members of the San Francisco cycling community would like a way to help a fellow cyclist when injured by someone who refused to share the road!

To make it possible to donate, we have set up a special trust fund in Mr. Casajeros' name.  Donations can be sent to: 

Claude Wyle
Choulos, Choulos and Wyle
425 California Street
San Francisco, CA 94104

Make your checks payable to Rolando Casajeros and Claude Wyle, trust account number 7734751691.One hundred percent of the money will be spent on behalf of Mr. Casajeros to help with his expenses during his lengthy rehab.

If you want to show your support in person and make a donation there will be a fund raiser at the Old Clam House on June 27 at 3 pm.

If you need more information, please call Claude Wyle, Choulos, Choulos and Wyle (415) 474-7800.

I write with a heavy heart about the latest motorcycle accident in the Bay Area. As an avid motorcyclist myself, and a San Francisco injury attorney, I am often involved with injuries resulting from motorcycle accidents, but few situations are as upsetting as this. Cbs5.com is reporting that two people on a motorcycle were killed near Antioch late yesterday afternoon when the driver of a pickup truck made an unsafe lane change and caused a Honda Civic to hit the motorcycle.
According to the California Highway Patrol, the driver of a black Ford F-250 truck towing a white boat made an unsafe lane change, which forced the Honda Civic into the motorcycle. The truck did not stop after the crash.

The motorcyclist and passenger were taken to the Kaiser Permanente hospital in Antioch, where they were pronounced dead. The driver of the Honda Civic suffered serious injuries.

What upsets me most about this story is that it shows the typical auto or truck driver's disregard for the safety of motorcyclists around them on the road.  Trucks and cars look out for other large vehicles, but they rarely consider motorcycles when they change lanes, make left turns, cross over the yellow line, etc.  The disregard is even more apparent when the driver of the truck who caused this horrible accident didn't even stop.  Didn't even acknowledge that he took two people's lives.

Please, if you have any information about this accident call 1-800-TELL-CHP. A black Ford F-250 towing a white boat in the Antioch area yesterday afternoon should be recognizable to someone.  Nothing will bring back these two innocent motorcyclists, but providing information would at least tell everyone that we care about motorcyclists and their rights and will not continue to ignore them.

We are not representing any of the parties mentioned in this article at the time the article was posted. Our information source is cited in the article. If you were involved in this incident or a similar incident and have questions as to your rights and options, call a reputable law firm. Do not act solely upon the information provided herein. Get a consultation. The best law firms will provide a free confidential consultation to "not at fault" persons named in this article and their family members.

Yesterday I reported that a Cincinnati couple was killed when the brakes failed on the Desoto cab they were riding in and the cab crashed into a freeway support column and caught fire.

The passengers were Dennis and Karen Marshall of Columbia Township. They arrived in San Francisco on Monday and hailed a cab at the airport to take them to their hotel.cab driver, Fageh Hassan Behbahani, 49, of Daly City, is now under criminal investigation for not pulling over when he first smelled smoke 2 miles before the crash. 

Behbahani told investigators he and the Marshalls smelled smoke in his DeSoto Cab Co. taxi as he passed Candlestick Park while driving north on Highway 101 Monday morning, taking the Marshalls from the airport to the Mark Hopkins hotel on Nob Hill.

What the CHP needs to determine now is whether an average or so-called "reasonable" person would have pulled over right away or would have kept driving. 

As a San Francisco injury lawyer, with a lot of experience handling taxi cab accidents one of the problems I identified with this case yesterday was that many of the taxi drivers employed in San Francisco have very little training. According to the CHP, Behbahani has a valid driver's license and a clean record, but he has worked for DeSoto for just six months. Further, city taxi drivers do not usually receive any continuing education about safety or defensive driving. While an average person may not have pulled over after smelling smoke for two miles, I do not think it is too much to ask that taxi drivers, who are responsible for the safety of their passengers, be given instruction about what steps to take in a situation like this.

I further noted that many of the cabs on the street are not well-maintained.  The cab that crashed passed an inspection in January at the permit processing unit at San Francisco International Airport.  That maintenance record will have to be reviewed, but even if the vehicle was maintained properly, what about training drivers to recognize risks? What about instruction in defensive driving when emergencies such as failed brakes occur?

DeSoto released a statement saying DeSoto extended condolences to the victims' families, but declined to comment on the crash or the investigation.  It is sad but true that it will take a lawsuit before DeSoto will tell us what really caused this crash.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and loved ones of the Marshalls.

We are not representing any of the parties mentioned in this article at the time the article was posted. Our information source is cited in the article. If you were involved in this incident or a similar incident and have questions as to your rights and options, call a reputable law firm. Do not act solely upon the information provided herein. Get a consultation. The best law firms will provide a free confidential consultation to "not at fault" persons named in this article and their family members.

As a San Francisco injury attorney representing one of the injured bicyclists in the Bicycle Road Rampage incident that took place last week, the only good news to report is that the suspect, identified as David Mark Clark, 39, of Albany, is in custody and has been charged with attempted murder, rather than aggravated assault,  for allegedly hitting bicyclists with his car in San Francisco last week.  

Police said Friday a motive is still unknown for why Clark allegedly targeted the bicyclists. Prosecutors not listing any hate crime charges, which implies, I suppose, that hate was not a motive.

Meanwhile, Clark is being held under observation at the county jail's psychiatric unit, which brings up a very troubling aspect of this case, which is whether there will be insurance coverage to assist the victims not only with their out-of-pocket expenses, but also with other damages such as lost wages and pain and suffering.  (In the interest of full disclosure, as I noted above, I am representing the most seriously injured bicyclist and I therefore do have a financial interest in the outcome.)

Generally speaking, there is no insurance for intentional acts, as set forth in Insurance Code section 533. However, the "intentional" nature of the act can be negated by the wrongdoer's mental state and his capacity to intend to do the harm. In other words, if Clark did not have the capacity to intend to do harm to the bicyclists because he was suffering from delusions, say, there is an argument that any insurance he carried would be available to the bicyclists.

I don't know what will ultimately be decided about Clark's mental state, but it seems clear to me that no one in their right mind would target bicyclists, in public, with witnesses, with no apparent motive unless his mental capacity was severely  impaired.

For now, let's just be thankful that Clark is behind bars and hope that the justice system works to insure that he will never hurt another bicyclist. Meanwhile, I will work to make sure that the civil justice system does its best for my injured cyclist client. 

I was very sorry to hear that a couple from Ohio vacationing in San Francisco died yesterday when the Desoto taxi they were riding in crashed on an Interstate 280 off-ramp. In addition to the death of the two taxi passengers, the taxi driver was seriously injured, and two sheriff's deputies who helped pull the victims out of the car were hospitalized for smoke inhalation.
According to the CHP, the couple was on the way from SFO to the Mark Hopkins hotel on Nob Hill when the cab's brakes apparently failed. The taxi cab crash was reported at 10:57 a.m. at the Mariposa Street off-ramp from northbound I-280.

The woman passenger was pronounced dead at San Francisco General Hospital shortly after the crash, and the man died at about 4:20 p.m. The taxi driver was seriously injured but left the hospital.

The cause of the accident appears to have been failed brakes. The taxi driver said that he had smelled smoke as he was driving on the highway and that the brakes failed as he took the Mariposa off-ramp. The driver said he also tried to use the emergency parking brake to stop, but that did not work either and the taxi ended up crashing into a highway support beam and catching fire, before it hit a steel support fence.

The taxi was a Dodge Intrepid from the Desoto Cab Co. and was registered in San Francisco.

As a San Francisco Taxi Cab lawyer, I am always upset by this kind of case, because it almost always involves negligence on the part of the cab company in failing to keep its taxis safe for passengers. While I understand that the cabs have to be out on the street to make money, there is no justification in the world for failing to do proper maintenance--especially when it involves something as important as brakes.  The taxi companies have to learn that we will not tolerate any shortcuts and passenger safety should be safeguarded before any other concerns.

 Having handled lots of cases against cab companies in this City, many against Desoto, I do know that the training a De Soto cab driver needs to get his cab driver's license is not at all stringent ( one week at a City class), and that they generally have no ongoing safety meetings and no ongoing safety training. They get no drivers handbook from De Soto.  Cab drivers are allowed to work other jobs and can show up to work tired from their other jobs. As professional drivers, the taxi drivers should be subject to greater regulation, and stricter safety standards, like truckers. Still, in California the cab driver is held to the highest standard of care, which is greater than a regular driver. I sincerely hope that the family of this couple finds a good law firm who makes the cab company accountable for this crash. Only when people or companies are made accountable does their behavior change. I would be happy to discuss this case and the law as it pertains to taxis and passengers in California with anyone who calls for a consultation.

We are not representing any of the parties mentioned in this article at the time the article was posted. Our information source is cited in the article. If you were involved in this incident or a similar incident and have questions as to your rights and options, call a reputable law firm. Do not act solely upon the information provided herein. Get a consultation. The best law firms will provide a free confidential consultation to "not at fault" persons described in this article and their family members.

In case you haven't been following the San Francisco Bike Rampage case, last Wednesday night in the Mission and Potrero Districts, four San Francisco cyclists suffered serious personal injuries including broken bones, lacerations and internal injuries after a driver, now suspected to be Albany resident David Mark Clark, went on a "road rampage" in the City, intentionally hitting them as they rode on the public street.   There were four bicyclists hit by Mr. Clark, in four separate incidents.

Witnesses said that Clark intentionally tried to hit the bicyclists. As a San Francisco bicycle accident attorney and an avid bike rider myself, I was outraged by the initial reports, but now I am even more outraged. After hitting the cyclists, the driver abandoned the car, including his wallet and cell phone, at the scene of the crime and fled on foot. Police were able to identify the owner of the car and went to his house in Albany, but no one was home, apparently. San Francisco and Albany police then put the residence under surveillance. On Friday, Mr. Clark turned himself in to the Albany Police, saying that he had been the victim of a carjacking on the evening of the attacks on the bicyclists and that he had not been driving at the time the bicyclists were hit.

While this possibly could have happened; Clark didn't report the theft for two days and the bike attacks had been all over the news. Apparently the police did not buy the story either and arrested Clark after interviewing him. Police still don't have any kind of motive for Clark's actions and Clark is currently being held without bail in the San Francisco County psychiatric lockup.

I have been consulted by the family of the bicyclist who suffered the worst injuries and I am sad to report that, as a result of this motorist's sociopathic behavior, our new client still remains in the intensive care unit in the hospital. His friends and family are trying to raise money on his behalf, and I have been advising them on many of the legal issues that have arisen after this incident.  This bicycle rider's life has been turned upside down permanently.

While the San Francisco District Attorney will be shooting for a felony conviction, where will this leave the survivors of the attack? While the Court may ultimately impose restitution upon the suspect, after he pleads out, I sincerely doubt whether any of the surviving bicyclists will be made whole financially. Also, who will be held accountable for the tremendous pain and suffering this person has caused these cyclists? And who will be made accountable for their lost income or future disability? Only the civil justice system actually seeks to make whole the survivors of this attack on San Francisco bicycle riders. And whether these bicycle attack victims are compensated depends mostly on the assets and available insurance of the attacker.

If you are one of the cyclists who has been injured in this incident, please remember to check your own auto insurance policy for uninsured motorist coverage, which covers you for a hit and run, or for underinsured motorist coverage which will pay if the driver had inadequate coverage to cover your losses. I will blog more on the insurance aspects of this potential claim in my next installment on this subject.

We are not yet officially representing any of the parties mentioned in this article at the time the article was posted. Our information source is cited in the article, and my initial meeting with one of the cyclists' families. If you were involved in this incident or a similar incident and have questions as to your rights and options, call a reputable law firm. Do not act solely upon the information provided here. Get a consultation. The best law firms will provide a free confidential consultation to "not at fault" persons like those named in this article and their family members. If you are a concerned San Francisco cyclist, and have questions about your rights, please feel free to call me and I will be happy to speak with you free of charge.