Articles Posted in car wreck

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California is one of states that has very specific laws regarding a motorists duty when in a car accident.  If you live in California, get to know the laws associated with car accidents.

Many people who have no history with crime have ended up being charged with misdemeanor hit and run or felony hit and run due to their not realizing their actions after a car accident were considered criminal.

Hydroplaning Vehicles

HYDROPLANING VEHICLES

I’m Ed Smith, a Natomas Personal Injury Lawyer. This is the time of year when we see an increase in hydroplaning vehicles. Have you ever hydroplaned in your vehicle before? If you have you know how scary it can be and with the rainy season here it makes for  slippery roadways and hazardous driving conditions. Hydroplaning can happen at speeds as little as 35 miles per hour it is when your car has lost contact with the roadway and is treading on the top layer of water. You can feel you are hydroplaning because the steering feels light in your hands. The most important thing to remember when this happens is not to panic. Easily take your foot off the accelerator this might transfer enough weight forward to regain traction again with the roadway. If your still not in control then gently squeeze your breaks to slow the car down but keep in mind to apply your breaks easily, you do not want to break too quickly. Breaking too quickly may be the most common cause of hydroplaning vehicles.

HOW IT HAPPENS

If you have, you know how scary it can be and with the rainy season here it makes for  slippery roadways and hazardous driving conditions. Hydroplaning can happen at speeds as little as 35 miles per hour. It happens when your car has lost contact with the roadway and is treading on the top layer of water. You can feel you are hydroplaning because the steering feels light in your hands. The most important thing to remember when this happens is not to panic. Easily take your foot off the accelerator. T his might transfer enough weight forward to regain traction again with the roadway. If your still  are not in control then gently squeeze your brakes to slow the car down but keep in mind to apply your brakes  easily.

WHAT IT FEELS LIKE

You can feel you are hydroplaning because the steering feels light in your hands. The most important thing to remember when this happens is not to panic. Easily take your foot off the accelerator this might transfer enough weight forward to regain traction again with the roadway. If your still not in control then gently squeeze your brakes  to slow the car down . Continue reading ›

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Yuba City Power Restoration After Rainy Day Collision

PG&E has restored power for over 1,600 customers after Monday’s outage. The cause of this outage was linked to a broken power line after a vehicle collided with a pole. The driver of the vehicle was said to be traveling at an unsafe speed for rainy conditions.

Natomas Fatal Crash on Levee Road

A Recent fatality involving two vehicles that left 5 people injured and one person dead. This happened on the Elverta and  Levee road just East of Highway 99 which is a popular short- cut for lots of Natomas residents. This roadway, however, can be very dangerous as many people drive at accelerated speeds. The road here is long and narrow with one lane of traffic coming in each direction. Caution should be used when driving this stretch of roadway as it can be dangerous. It was not clear at the time of this accident what caused the two vehicles to hit head on or if speed was a factor.

Pedestrian deaths in the Unites States still remain high.  From 2001 to 2010, 47, 392 pedestrian deaths have occurred in the Unites States.  Most of these fatalities are adults.  Approximately, every year 5,000 deaths+ are contributed to pedestrian versus auto crashes.  In an effort to reduce pedestrian deaths and injury, a HAWK crosswalk has already been operating in Sacramento on Stockton Boulevard near UC Davis Hospital for over a year.  This is a high foot traffic location.  While the installation of the HAWK crosswalk is expensive, approximately $150,000 a piece, Sacramento has plans to put in nine additional crosswalks.

What is a HAWK crosswalk?  A HAWK crosswalk is built specifically to provide pedestrians with added security when crossing a street.  Instead of a light cycling from green to red for motorists, a few additional signals are added in an attempt to make sure the motorist is aware of the need to stop.  When a pedestrian pushes the ‘walk’ button at a HAWK intersection, a signal will being to flash yellow to indicate to motorists that a pedestrian will soon be using the crosswalk.  After flashing yellow, the signal will change to a solid yellow and then to a solid red.  When the light cycles to a solid red, it is also accompanied by  additional lights flashing red, which indicates that pedestrians are crossing.  The hope is that the additional flashing yellow and flashing red signals will grab the  motorists attention and help the motorist comply with stopping.  The pedestrian also see something extra at HAWK intersections.  The pedestrian is provided a flashing orange signal to notify the pedestrian that their time to cross the intersection is ending.

car storage fees after accident
Sadly, after being the victim of a car accident, some drivers find themselves the victim of exorbitant tow truck fees and related storage yard fees.  After being involved in an accident, people are often in shock and aren’t thinking clearly.  Police and paramedics are trying to get traffic moving and inoperable cars cleared from the scene.  In their effort to get traffic moving, the  police may have called the nearest tow service to get the scene cleaned up and to move your car.  The officer is well meaning and doing his job.

Next thing you know, a tow truck has arrived.  You may even be breathing a sigh of relief when the tow truck arrives as the state of shock may have made you feel as if you didn’t know what to do. Next thing you know you have signed some documents and the tow truck operator has told us that ‘He’ll take care of everything.’  We go home, open a claim with the at fault insurance carrier and it’s not until two weeks after the accident do we get a bill for $700 in storage fees and $300 for the towing service.  What!!??

road workSacramento’s “Across the Top” project is adding carpool lanes and repaving the highway.  It has been in progress since 2011 and is projected to be completed sometime in 2016.  The project runs for 10 miles from the Sacramento River Bridge east to Watt Avenue.  The project caused a large shift in traffic last year and during that time the California Highway Patrol reported a substantial increase in automobile accidents as follows:

July 2013: 13 accidents compared to 30 accidents in July 2014

On August 23, 2015, a man was killed and six other people were taken to area hospitals following a three-car collision in the Arden-Arcade area.  The incident took place a little after noon on Sunday on the Alta Arden Expressway. Alta Arden between Wright Street and Fulton Avenue was closed down for a period of time following the collision.

According to police, a Hyundai Santa Fe that was traveling southbound on Wyda Way ran a stop sign and entered the intersection with Alta Arden, colliding with the passenger side of a Chrysler Town & Country that had been traveling westbound through the intersection.  The impact caused the driver of the Chrysler to lose control of the vehicle and slam into a Toyota Sienna minivan that was traveling eastbound on Alta Arden.

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