Car Accidents

On August 21, 2023, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) proposed to amend the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard to include seat belt warnings for rear passenger seats.

The proposed rule will mandate seat belt warning signs for nearly all new vehicles manufactured in the United States, requiring car makers to include visual and audio alerts when rear seatbelts are not buckled.

After a car accident, mediation is often used as a form of alternative dispute resolution when settlement negotiations fail rather than going to court. Here is how the process typically goes. 

If you are involved in a car accident caused by negligent vehicle maintenance or repairs, your mechanic may be liable. 

Mechanics owe a duty of care to customers to use a reasonable amount of care in completing car repairs.

After a car accident, it is critical to have the correct auto insurance information of the driver(s) involved. There are several ways to get ahold of this information. 

If you and the other driver are not injured so severely that one or both of you must immediately be taken to the hospital, you will likely have time at the scene of the crash to exchange contact and insurance details with the other driver.

There are a wide variety of reasons why car accidents happen, but the leading causes of traffic fatalities in California include the following. 

Traveling above the posted speed limit or too fast for roadway conditions is a primary cause of car accidents and traffic fatalities in California.

California’s Proposition 213 applies to uninsured drivers, preventing them from collecting compensation for pain and suffering even if they are not at fault for an accident. This legislation received widespread support in response to higher insurance premiums and the increasing number of uninsured drivers on the road. 

If you get injured while on public transportation—such as a bus, train, or subway, the carrier may be liable. These companies are bound by common carrier laws, which means they have a higher duty of care to ensure passengers are safe.

By Eric Ganci

Picture this: you are driving and cause a car crash (Defendant’s usually call it a car accident, but accidents imply no person is at fault). Let’s say this Defendant Driver feels bad and wants to use her insurance to pay for the car crash…but her Insurance Company does not want to pay…does that create a conflict of interest between the Attorney that represents both the Insurance Company (as a company) and the Defendant Driver (as a person)?