Category: Motor vehicle accidents

Motorcycle accidents can be devastating to the victims involved. Obviously, motorcycles lack the protection that automobiles provide to their occupants. Motorcycle accidents cost the U.S. billions of dollars every year in medical bills, property damages, emergency services, and more. Motorcycle accident victims are typically entitled to compensation for their damages, but they must be able to prove both liability and damages.

In order to build a strong case, there are some steps that should be taken at the scene. First, the police should be contacted. Police who respond to the scene should write an accident report, which will be a key piece of evidence in your case. If you are able, talk to the police at the scene.

Eyewitnesses can also be critical to your case. Ask anyone who witnessed the crash for their contact information. This could include passengers, pedestrians, passersby, other motorists, or others. Ask them if they will wait until the police arrive so that their statements can be included in the official report.

While you are at the scene, take pictures of the scene, including the vehicles and any nearby details which could be important. The pictures should be taken from all angles. These pictures can be important later, particularly if the scene is cleaned up quickly and the police neglect to take pictures.

Finally, it can be very important to write down everything you remember as soon after the accident as possible. Even tiny details can be very important. Compile your notes along with the information you have for the eyewitnesses.

If you have been injured in a motorcycle accident in Los Angeles, you should speak with an experienced Los Angeles motorcycle accident attorney. Call me, Conal Doyle at 310-385-0567. I can help. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation on your case.

One year after a woman was killed by an Uber self-driving car, officials announced that Uber will not face any criminal charges. The accident occurred in Tempe, Arizona. The woman was walking a bicycle across a road at night. Uber’s self-driving software system initially classified the woman as an unknown object, then a vehicle, then a bicycle, but it never braked.

Arizona officials said that it conducted a detailed review of the evidence and decided there was no basis for criminal liability against Uber. Officials refused to answer any questions about the case or to detail how the decision was made. However, there was an Uber employee behind the wheel who was supposed to intervene if the car was not acting properly. She could still face criminal charges.

Experts say that it is not clear whether Uber will not be charged because it did not have any criminal responsibility for the accident, or because there was no law under which the company could be charged. Many believe that technology executives should not face criminal liability in cases such as this, and should only face criminal liability if there was evidence the company knew people’s lives would be lost and ignored that information. Although Uber is not facing criminal charges, it has been harmed by the accident. As a result of the accident, Uber closed its self-driving vehicle division, laying off 300 workers.

It will be interesting to see how laws and policies around self-driving vehicles evolve over the next few years and decades. If you or a loved one has been harmed by a self-driving vehicle, you should speak with an attorney. Call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles personal injury attorney, at 310-385-0567. I can help. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation on your case.

I’m sorry to hear about your accident. In Los Angeles, automobiles and large tractor trailers traverse the freeways and streets and high rates of speed. No drivers expect to have items thrown at them from passing vehicles. However, trucks are loaded with all types of products that can come loose, particularly if they are not secured properly.

When large trucks have cargo that is not secured, any vehicles unfortunate enough to be in their wake can be seriously damaged. Some experts say that over 50,000 accidents each year are caused by cargo that isn’t properly tied down.

There are very specific rules about how cargo is to be loaded onto tractor trailers. Those regulations are set by federal agencies. The company that loads the cargo, as well as the truck driver, must ensure that cargo is properly loaded and secured before the truck starts driving. Regulations require certain numbers of tie downs, provide specific rules for how some products must be loaded, and also govern how much acceleration and other forces the cargo must be able to withstand. The rules are enforced at weigh stations and other checkpoints. If a truck driver fails to properly secure a load, he or she may face a steep fine.

When cargo does come loose and causes an accident, there may be several parties to blame for the accident. This includes the truck driver, his or her employer, and the company that loaded the materials. The parties may try to point the finger at one another in order to avoid being held liable for damages.

If you have been injured by cargo falling from a truck, you should speak with an attorney. These cases can be complicated, so you should speak with an experienced personal injury attorney. If you are in Los Angeles, call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles automobile accident attorney at 310-385-0567. I can help. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation on your case.

There is a high possibility of an accident occurring when two or more roads intersect – much higher than at other places on the roads. When an accident occurs, the accident victims are entitled to receive compensation from the negligent drivers.

About 40 percent of automobile accidents occur at intersections, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which amounts to over two million accidents every year. In those accidents, about 700,000 people are injured and over 7,000 people are killed.

In most accidents involving intersections, one or more of the drivers passing through the intersection made a poor decision before or while driving through the intersection. These decisions can lead to not only the deaths and injuries of other automobile passengers, but also pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists, and others who are nearby.

Intersection accidents are caused by a number of common factors. Many drivers choose to speed through intersections. They may drive through intersections while they are distracted by their cell phones or other things, which can increase the odds of an accident. If an intersection is not controlled by either signs or lights, the odds of an accident skyrocket. The odds of an accident at an intersection also increase when vehicles are turning.

Because of the large numbers of intersections in Los Angeles, as well as the congestion, there are a high amount of intersection car accidents every year in Los Angeles. If you have been injured in an accident at a Los Angeles intersection, you should speak with an attorney. Call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles personal injury attorney at 310-385-0567. I can help. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation.

I understand how tempting it can be to post about your accident on social media. It can be a great source of support in a difficult time. However, most personal injury attorneys caution their clients about what they post – an accident victim can inadvertently seriously harm their case.

Social media is extremely popular. Roughly 70 percent of all adults in the U.S. use some form of social media, and the numbers are much higher for younger adults. Many people share almost all facets of their lives on social media. If you have been harmed in an automobile accident, your natural inclination may be to share that information on social media. However, don’t post anything before speaking with your attorney.

Although your settings may be private and you may believe that only your trust friends and family members can see your posts, you should assume that a defense attorney and/or insurance adjuster will have access to your posts. If you post detailed information about the accident, that opens yourself up to issues later. Also, you may think it’s ok to post information not related to the accident. You should be extremely cautious about anything you post while your case is ongoing. For example, if you are claiming a serious back injury but post pictures of yourself on a ski trip, that could lead to doubt about the nature of your injuries. Even if you weren’t skiing on the trip and merely went with friends or family, you should avoid the appearance that you weren’t injured.

If you have been injured in an automobile accident in Los Angeles and are uncertain of what steps you should take next, call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles personal injury attorney, at 310-385-0567. I can help. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation on your case.

Bicycle accidents in which the bicyclist is sideswiped by an automobile are not uncommon, especially in areas with heavy automobile traffic. If a driver takes their eyes off course for a second, the vehicle may serve and hit a bicyclist. A sideswipe accident can be just as dangerous to a bicyclist as getting hit directly. The bicyclist may be thrown from the bike or crash. Injured bicyclists may be able to sue for their injuries, depending on the circumstances of the accident.

Any bicyclist who is sharing the roads with automobiles can be sideswiped. There is normally not much space between automobiles and bicyclists, even if there is a designated bike lane or if the bicyclist is riding on the shoulder of the road. Distracted drivers may take their eyes off the roads. Tractor trailers or other wide vehicles that are turning often accidentally swing into the bike lane or onto the shoulder of the road. Drivers may be engaging in illegal behaviors such as driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, speeding, or ignoring the rules of the road.

It is often difficult for a bicyclist to avoid being sideswiped. The bicyclist normally doesn’t see the vehicle coming until it’s too late. However, the good news is that compensation is available when a bicyclist is injured. The accident victim may be entitled to compensation for medical expenses, pain and suffering, lost wages, and other out of pocket expenses. That money typically comes from the automobile driver’s insurance policy. However, it can come from other sources as well.

If you have been sideswiped in Los Angeles, you should speak with an attorney. Call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles bicycle accident attorney at 310-385-0567. I can help. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation.

A Florida man who claims he was hurt in an accident earlier this year while riding with a Lyft driver says that company is not sharing any insurance information, which is making his situation more difficult. The man says that he was in a crash with a Lyft driver who then left the scene without calling police or paramedics.

The man sought medical attention for his injuries, and requested insurance information from Lyft. He says he has not gotten a response. Without the insurance information, he cannot get any pre-settlement funding to pay his bills. The accident victim says if the Lyft driver had not fled the scene of the accident, he could have gotten the insurance information from him directly and would not have had to deal with Lyft and its corporate team.

Lyft says that it has been in touch with both the Lyft driver and the passenger involved. It also claims that its insurance carrier has been notified of the accident and that an adjuster has been assigned to help with the claim process.

When there is an accident involving an Uber or Lyft vehicle, it unfortunately can sometimes be difficult to get the proper insurance coverage that is needed. The driver may carry only a minimal policy. Uber and Lyft both have large policies to cover damages, but even those policies may not properly compensate accident victims. Also, the companies can be difficult to deal with.

If you have been involved in an accident involving an Uber or Lyft vehicle, you should speak with an attorney. If you are in Los Angeles, call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles personal injury attorney at 310-385-0567. I can help. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation.

Immediately after an accident with a drunk driver in Los Angeles, you should speak with an attorney. Not only is it illegal to drive while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, it can also cause serious injuries and wrongful death. There are legal remedies available to the victims of drunk drivers and for their families.

Drivers who operate vehicles while impaired by alcohol or drugs can put everyone on the roadways in serious danger of being involved in an automobile accident. In spite of that fact, millions of Americans each year drink too much and then choose to operate a motor vehicle, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Thousands of deaths and hundreds of thousands of injuries are caused each year by drunk drivers. An experienced Los Angeles personal injury attorney can help victims of drunk driving accidents seek compensation for their damages.

Attorneys can help drunk driving accident victims by helping to prove that the drunk driver is at fault for the accident. In California, a driver cannot legally operate a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent or higher. If you have been involved in a crash with a driver who is legally drunk, you may be able to pursue civil penalties in addition to whatever criminal penalties the driver may face.

If you have been injured in an automobile accident in Los Angeles with a drunk driver, you should speak with an experienced personal injury attorney. An attorney can answer your questions and advise you whether to proceed with a civil case against the drunk driver. Call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles automobile accident attorney, at 310-385-0567. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation on your case.

Three women who ordered a Lyft in December are now facing an insurance nightmare after a hit-and-run accident. The women took a Lyft to a large event so that they did not have to deal with parking. While riding in the Lyft, a truck hit the vehicle that all three were riding in and then fled the scene. The truck hit another vehicle as well.

According to the women, the impact of the accident was serious. All three suffered serious injuries and were taken to the hospital in an ambulance. One of the women received a huge scar and suffers from chronic pain now. The second woman is unable to stand on her feet to work like she used to. The third woman got glass in her eye during the accident and may have nerve damage. She also has bulging discs and a dislocated vertebra. All three women are potentially facing large medical bills.

Thus far, the women have not gotten compensated for the accident. Lyft carries an insurance policy of up to $1 million per ride. However, Lyft has instructed the women to go through the driver’s insurance first, then their own insurance. If they received the money from the Lyft policy, it would be split between the three women and the driver, which may not be sufficient to compensate the four for their injuries.

Rideshare companies can be difficult to work with on a payout. In many cases, accident victims who are hurt in accidents involving Uber or Lyft must work with attorneys in order to be compensated. If you have been involved in an accident with an Uber or Lyft vehicle in Los Angeles, call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles personal injury attorney, at 310-385-0567. I can help. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation on your case.

A woman is suing Uber and Lyft, as well as the company that creates the apps for both services, claiming that she was left permanently disabled as a result of her driver being distracted while using the apps. The accident occurred in 2017.

According to court documents, the victim set up a ride through Lyft. During that ride, the Lyft driver, who was also a driver for Uber, allegedly logged into both ride-sharing apps while driving the victim on a freeway. The lawsuit claims that the driver was driving while distracted as a result of using the apps, both of which lack a hands-free option. The driver crashed into a semi-truck that was stopped at 70 miles an hour. The woman’s attorneys claim that the use of the apps cause serious distractions and are illegal to use while driving. The woman suffered several injuries in the accident, including injuries to her brain, head, neck, back, and hip.

While many hail Uber and Lyft as easier to use, less expensive, and quicker alternatives to taxis, there are some serious problems with the companies’ business models. They hire drivers who lack any professional training and sometimes have questionable criminal and driving histories. The drivers use their phones while driving, and many make poor choices that endanger the lives of their passengers.

If you have been harmed by a driver with Uber or Lyft, you should speak with an attorney. You have legal options. Call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles personal injury attorney, at 310-385-0567. I am currently involved in a lawsuit against Lyft and will be happy to talk with you about your case. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation.