San Francisco Legal Blog

Californians who travel the state's roadways may find themselves involved in serious car accidents that result in personal injuries or property losses. Experts say that there are multiple forms of compensatory damages potentially available to these victims and their families. An individual's eligibility for each type, however, depends on the kind of accident circumstances they experienced.

One common economic damage category pursued by survivors includes medical expenses, such as hospital bills, ER fees and transportation costs. Victims can recover various kinds of expenses under the umbrella of medical costs, but they need to prove that they were incurred as a result of the accident. Medical damages and disability damages are distinct from each other even though medical testimonies may be used as evidence for both claim types. Some courts command people to pay damages for perceived disabilities in addition to those verified by health care practitioners.

California drivers may be interested in learning about a proposal from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that would impose a limit on how fast buses, trucks and other large vehicles can travel. In order to accomplish this, all new U.S. vehicles that weigh more than 26,000 pounds would have their speeds electronically capped at 60, 65 or 68 miles per hour.

Before the rule can be put into place, the government agencies must take public comment for 60 days. Once this period of time passes, the final speed limit cap must be determined. According to the agencies, implementing the speed cap would have a minimal cost because most of the trucks in the U.S. already have devices that limit their speed already installed. Additionally, most truck tires are not designed to go faster than 75 miles per hour. Tires that are traveling at faster speeds are at risk for blowing out and causing a serious crash.

For about two years now, San Francisco has been committed to a Vision Zero traffic policy, which is aimed at reducing traffic deaths to zero by 2024.

Unfortunately, deadly traffic accidents continue to happen, and Mayor Ed Lee has called for accelerated safety improvements in the wake of recent bicyclist and pedestrian deaths.

California drivers may be alarmed to hear that teenagers perform a variety of dangerous activities after getting behind the wheels of their vehicles. A recent study published in the Journal of Transportation Safety found that in addition to texting while driving, many teens surveyed said that they engaged in other distractions that surprised researchers, with some even reporting that they did their homework behind the wheel.

Drivers of all ages are more likely to be involved in car accidents when they engage in distractions while driving. While the teenagers surveyed in the study apparently understood the risks of texting while driving, with participants reporting doing so at lower rates than in previous studies, they did not seem to understand the dangers of other actions.