Sacramento CA Personal Injury Law Blog

What causes approximately 2 million car accidents across the country each year and leads to many serious injuries? A hint: It is not distracted driving. Instead, the culprit is not signaling when a driver makes a turn or a lane change. Nearly every driver on California's roads has been taken by surprise when another motorist makes a turn without advance warning. Perhaps people themselves have neglected to use their turn signals.

While we may have considered the use of a turn signal a courtesy to other drivers and the failure to use one merely an annoyance, a new study shows that not employing a turn signal can lead to a large number of car accidents. The Society of Automotive Engineers conducted the study, which revealed high rates of turning signal non-compliance. During one out of every four turns, a driver does not use a turning signal. But the number is worse in lane changes, where nearly one out of every two changes involves a driver failing to use a signal or leaving it on after moving into the new lane.

Bicycles are an easy and environmentally-friendly way to get around the streets of some of California's busy cities. And while we may tend to think of bicyclists as accident victims--such as when they are involved in car crashes--sometimes they can be the ones who engage in dangerous behavior. Late last month, a bicyclist in San Francisco was involved in a wrongful death accident when he struck and killed a pedestrian walking across the street in the city's Castro District.

According to eyewitness reports, a 71-year-old man was walking across the street inside the crosswalk when a bicyclist hit him. Soon after the accident, a man purporting to be the cyclist made an online statement about the incident. He stated that the light at the intersection had turned yellow, but that he was traveling too fast to stop, a speed he described as "cruising." Before he could make it through the intersection, the light turned red and pedestrians began crossing the street. The elderly man later died at the hospital from his injuries.

Sacramento residents driving along area roads and highways have a right to expect that other motorists will follow traffic laws and, in general, observe due care in the operation of their vehicles. Unfortunately, accidents do happen, and sometimes they are the result of another driver's negligence.

Three years ago a woman was traveling on Interstate 5 north of Sacramento when she was involved in a fatal accident with a United Parcel Service truck. She was killed when the UPS truck changed lanes and collided with her vehicle. The driver of the truck faced criminal charges in connection with the accident. According to records, he did not serve any time in jail but did work in a court supervised program.

Sacramento residents undoubtedly receive advice from their doctors to take precautions that will protect their long-term health. Many of us may interpret that recommendation in terms of eating better, exercising more and reducing stress. People may think about improving their cardiovascular systems and trimming their waistlines. But there is one cause of long-term illness over which we often have no control: traumatic brain injury.

Over time, medical technology developed increasingly detailed ways to look inside the body to determine whether something was wrong. But the brain, with all its complexity, has remained a region where imaging technology has only been able to scratch the surface. That is changing, however. Scientists have created a machine that can map out the brain's nerve fibers with great clarity and precision.