• Tourists drivers and pedestrians. There are plenty of people on San Francisco’s roads that don’t know where they are going, especially during the summer and fall months of the tourists season. These people are naturally likely to make sudden stops and turns.  Pedestrians from out of town might not be aware of how quickly some of the drivers take turns and how important it is to look out of the cars that turn into the crosswalk. They sometimes walk way too slowly, being too confident in the drivers’ ability to see them and be as careful as they should.

• Poorly maintained road signs. While a lot of effort has been invested into improving and renewing the road signs in the city, there is still a lot of space for improvement. Some of the most common issues are “worn out” double yellow lines, not so obvious one way signs that make people drive in the wrong direction, and stop signs that “hide” behind the short bush-alike trees. For someone who is well familiar with where he/she drives, it might not be a big issue, but for tourists and out-of-towners in general, it presents a particular risk of driving the wrong way and skipping stop signs.

• Drivers who are looking for parking. If you are driving on a typical   street of mixed use (commercial and residential), chances are that the driver in front of you is going around looking for parking. That’s the driver that’s like to get excited and suddenly stop in the middle of the road if they see a possible parking spot. That’s also the same drivers that may make a u-turn unexpectedly to take the parking spot on the other side of the road.

• Stressed out “professionals”. These are the aggressive drivers who tailgate, who pass every car they can and who hunk at a car in front of them a fraction of a second after the light turns green.

Imagine a combination of two or more of the above factors, such as an aggressive driver behind a tourist driver or a pedestrian from out of town.

As a pedestrian, you should never assume that you are safe when you are crossing the street. Being on a look-out for upcoming traffic and watching the traffic as you cross the street will make you much safer when crossing the busy streets of our city.

As I drive around San Francisco, I see that the drivers routinely violate the law against texting while driving. It’s unfortunate that most of those drivers learn how dangerous is the hard way – when they rear-end another vehicle, run over a pedestrian or a bicyclist or even go off the road, when traveling on a curvy highway.

Gathering evidence, talking to police and witnesses, taking photographs and making sure that you organize your papers properly are the last things in your mind when you are involved in an auto accident or another serious injury incident and suffer serious injuries. However, sooner or later – the issue of being compensated for your injuries and damages will become relevant. And the more serious the injuries are that one sustains in an accident, the higher the medical bills are, the greater the loss of wages is, the greater the likelihood of temporarily or even permanent disability is, and thus – the greater the overall financial and emotional loss on a person is.

Thus, if you want to make sure that you are ultimately compensated for your injuries and pain and suffering, you will have to keep track of the facts, and documentation and the parties involved.

The Accident

Driver information – obtain and exchange information with all other drivers and make sure to get their names, license plate numbers and driver license numbers, insurance company name and policy number as well as their current address.

Photographs – photograph the damages done to your car as well as other vehicles at the scene of the incident and photograph you injuries (bruising, and other visible injuries) before they start healing. Obviously, it’s a good idea to always have a digital or a Polaroid camera in your car. However, even if you don’t have one, chances are that if your accident occurred in the City of San Francisco, there might a drug store within walking distance where you can buy a camera, and it would be a very good idea to do so to preserve evidence as soon as possible.

Police Report – the San Francisco police is often reluctant to come out to the scene of the incident, unless one or more parties were seriously injured. Call the San Francisco Police Department if you were injured and demand that they arrive and take down the traffic collision report. Make sure to get a report slip, so that you can order the report later from their office.

Witnesses – do not hesitate to approach people who have or might have witnessed your accident. Their testimony or simple declaration (a statement with a signature on a paper) may prove to be crucial in a case of disputed liability. San Francisco residents are known for their desire to help and step up to the plate when they witness a traumatic injury accident, so you should not feel that approaching and asking potential witnesses for their information would be inappropriate.

Medical Treatment – if you feel that you have suffered a serious injury do not hesitate to go to the emergency room. You might be discouraged by ER treatment in San Francisco if you do not have health insurance. However, this should not be your concern at the moment when receiving prompt medical attention, taking your x-rays and getting pain relief medication is crucial to your future health and well being. Don’t worry about medical bills. There are different ways to handle them later, one of which is hiring a an injury lawyer in San Francisco who will place the bills on “hold” until your claim is settled and who will later negotiate with the medical providers to reduce your obligations.

After the Accident

Medical Treatment – log all the office visits, prescriptions, over the counter medications, medical treatment, chiropractic treatment, physical treatment and any other medical help your received from the date of the accident.

Lost Work Time / School Time – keep track of the days you were absent from work and for which your employer did not compensate you and the days you weren’t able to attend school because of your pain and injuries.

Photographs – continue to take photographs of your injuries, to show the healing process and write the date the photo is taken on the back of each photo. This is particularly important if you have significant bruising or other visible injuries that take a long time to heal.

Witnesses – contact them for a written statement before too much time lapses.

Pain, discomfort, emotional distress, fatigue, tenderness, inconvenience – keep a daily log of your experiences, documenting how the injuries have interfered with your daily life and relationship.

It is impossible to fully protect yourself from being involved and being injured in an auto accident, especially in San Francisco, where the drivers are known for their aggressive nature and where so many out-of-towners and tourists are driving and often do not rally know where they are going, creating dangerous situations on the road. However, it is in your power to make sure that you are prepared for such an event and you protect your rights and future financial well being.

Clearly, some of the drivers lost control of their vehicles, hit the divider, and had their cur spun on a wet, slipper road, causing one or more cars behind them collide into them and cause a major pile-up accident. This is yet another reminder to the drivers of how important it is to keep distance between the vehicle in front of you, especially during and right after the heavy rain.

From a legal standpoint, one upside of having a pile-up is the opportunity for the biggest victim of the accident to obtain contact information of the potential witnesses who can later testify that he/she was not at fault, and who really caused the accident. This is important, because it is not uncommon for insurance companies to deny liability due to the conflicting recount of how the accident happened, and having unbiased witnesses on your side, who saw with their own eyes how the accident happened are very likely to tip the scales of liability in your favor.

The insurance companies rarely dispute liability under the circumstances, realizing that out of the two, the driver of the car should carry the burden of assuring that when he opens his car door the side of the road is free and clear of bicycles. This will save you the big trouble of causing someone serious injuries, being dragged through a claim or a lawsuit and then having your insurance rates increase significantly.

If you are a driver, you should train yourself to always look back when you open your car door, no matter how unlikely you think the bicycles is to come down near you. If you are a bicyclist riding down the long street of parallel parked cars pay, take a glance inside the cars that are parked in front of you. Often, you will be able to tell that someone has just parked or is about to open the door of their vehicle.  This will save you from suffering serious and often permanent injuries.

To make things worse for the driver of the parked car, the law in most cases imposes the greatest duty of care on the vehicle that is getting out of the parking area, which means that the driver who is pulling out of the parking area is almost always found at fault, because the upcoming cars have the right of way. The driver who pulls out of the parking area has to do everything in his power to make sure that he merges into the traffic safely and doesn’t create any danger to the upcoming traffic.

Thus, if you are completely unable to see the upcoming traffic through the cars that are parked next to yours, you are well advised to actually get out of the car and glance at the street and make sure that the road is clear or even ask the upcoming driver to stop for a moment and let you pull out from the parking area safely.

In addition to any liability for negligent supervision of children who cause injury or damage to property, a parent or a guardian is liable under California Civil Code section 1714.1 for intentional miconduct of a child (such as criminal acts, destruction of property, etc.) Any act of a minor which results in injury or death to another person or damage to property will be imputed to the parent for all purposes of civil damages. The parent or guarding having custody (physical custody and not just legal custody required). The liability of a parent for each such act by a minor was originally limited to $25,000.00 when this law was enacted, but is being adjusted by judicial council every two years and is currently at about $35,000.00.

If the insurance coverage applies to the injury or damage caused by a minor, the insurer will not be liable for more than $10,000.00 of the total sum.

Liability is also imposed by statute on parents for the intentional misconduct of children in other situations. These include:

• intentional act resulting in injury or death to any student or any person employed by performing volunteer services for a school district or private school. Cal. Education Code setion 48904(a);
• intentional or negligent act by a minor in driving a parent’s vehicle with parent’s express or implied permission. Cal. Vehicle Code section 17150 and 17707;
• Injury caused by a discharge of a weapon by a minor under 18 years if the parent either permitted the minor to have a firearm or left the firearm in a place accessible to the minor, although such liability is limited to $30,000 for injury to or death of one person per one injured person or $60,000 for injury to or death of all persons involved in a single event. Cal. Civil Code section 1714.3.

Thus, in my opinion, every driver would greatly benefit by conducting an experiment on the road where they will have to face with the potentially dangerous conditions, so that they see how their vehicle responds to the need for a sudden stop on the wet road.  Here is how you can make this experiment work for you.  During one rainy day, drive your car out late at night to a safe area with no traffic.  Position your vehicle straight on the road and mentally choose a point about 150 – 200 feet away from where you start driving. As you approach the chosing point, imagine that there is another car stopped in that spot and try to break as hard as you can to avoid colliding into that vehicle about 2-3 second before you arrive to the chosen point. This will simulate a common situation where the driver takes his eyes off the road for a few moments while the vehicle in front of him stops in traffic or at a stop light. You will be amazed to find out that your vehicle will likely skid far past the chosen point and that there is absolutely nothing you can do prevent your vehicle from skidding or almost sliding forward.

This experiment will provide you with an invaluable appreciation of the dangerous road conditions during rain and will likely make you drive slower and more carefully, keeping a large distance between you and the vehicle in front of you.