Vallejo Personal Injury Attorney
Car Accident Lawyer Solano County
Michael Rehm – (707) 225-0371
Free Consultations
Visitors have many reasons to come to Vallejo, but the biggest tourist attraction is Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. Some travelers come to Vallejo by ferry, but most visitors arrive on I-80 and I-780, or on Route 37 from the west or Route 29 from the north. Accidents on all those highways are common.
Competing with tourist traffic are commuters who work for Kaiser Permanente, Mare Island Brewing, and other Vallejo businesses, as well as students who attend Touro University and Vallejo's other schools. The mix of local and long-distance traffic assures that Vallejo's streets and highways are always crowded.
Unfortunately, busy roads are a recipe for traffic accidents. When compared to 57 California cities of comparable size, the Office of Traffic Safety ranks Vallejo as having the 20th worst rate of traffic accidents causing injury or death, after adjusting for population and miles driven.
Vallejo also has the 18th worst accident rate for pedestrian injuries, including the 9th worst for accidents that injure pedestrians age 15 or younger. Residents should also be disturbed to learn that Vallejo has the 8th worst rate of accidents in which injuries or deaths are caused by intoxicated drivers.
Whether a traffic accident involves passenger car occupants, a pedestrian, a motorcyclist, or a bicycle rider, a traffic accident lawyer can help injury victims obtain the compensation they deserve. Michael Rehm helps accident victims in Vallejo and surrounding communities recover compensation for their losses.
Drunk Driving Accidents in Vallejo
Vallejo's high rate of DUI arrests has not solved the city's high rate of DUI accidents. While it is unlawful to drive with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08% or higher, most accidents are caused by drivers who are well above the legal limit.
Drunk drivers cause accidents because they:
- Fall asleep at the wheel
- Don't notice when they stray across a centerline
- Are easily distracted
- Fail to see traffic signals
- Cannot react quickly to changed circumstances
- Have difficulty maintaining control of their vehicle
Drunk drivers cause head-on collisions more frequently than other negligent drivers. At highway speeds, head-on collisions can cause catastrophic injuries.
Any violation of a traffic safety law is an act of negligence, but whether a driver broke the law is sometimes a disputed issue. When an accident is caused by impaired driving, however, juries usually have little difficulty holding the driver responsible. The fact of the accident plus an elevated blood alcohol concentration usually convinces jurors to place the blame squarely on the drunk driver. That same evidence usually convinces insurance companies to settle injury claims for full value.
Rear-End Traffic Accidents in Solano County CA
Heavy traffic often leads to rear-end collisions. The most common traffic accident in Vallejo, in fact, is a rear-end crash.
Rear-end collisions are usually caused by distracted drivers. While drivers are distracted by many things, the use of smartphones while driving is an increasingly common cause of traffic accidents. Drivers who are reading texts or scrolling a song list fail to notice when the car they are following comes to a stop.
Even at low speeds, rear-end collisions cause whiplash injuries. A whiplash occurs when a car occupant's torso is pushed forward by a car seat. Unless the back of the occupant's head is resting against a properly positioned headrest, the head does not move forward when the body does. Relative to the torso, the head snaps backward as the spinal column twists. When the car slows, the head snaps forward.
All the motion takes place in less than a second. The rapid and violent motion of the head stretches and tears muscles in the neck. Spinal and shoulder injuries are also common results of rear-end collisions.
Whiplash injuries do not always produce immediate pain. Studies show that 12 to 72 hours may pass before whiplash injuries produce any symptoms. At the first sign of neck pain, car accident victims should seek medical attention. Prompt treatment can speed recovery while reducing the opportunity for an insurance adjuster to claim that the injury isn't real.
Intersection Accidents in Vallejo CA
Intersection accidents can also be caused by distracted driving, although other negligent acts that cause intersection collisions include trying to beat red lights and misjudging the speed of oncoming vehicles. Both drivers are sometimes at fault in an intersection accident, although most of the responsibility is usually assigned to the driver who had a duty to yield.
Most intersection accidents are side-impact (T-bone) collisions. Unless vehicle occupants are protected by side-impact airbags, T-bone collisions place them at risk of serious head injuries and facial wounds. Even when a vehicle is equipped with side-impact airbags, injuries to the back, knees, and other parts of the body are common.
Pedestrian Accidents in Vallejo
One Vallejo resident thought the intersection of Sonoma Boulevard and Illinois Street was so dangerous for pedestrians that he spray painted his own crosswalk on the street. Police arrested him for vandalism.
Whether or not the man's protest was a wise response to Vallejo's problem with pedestrian injuries, his actions called attention to the fact that city residents are often at risk when they try to cross the street. Whether pedestrians are inside or outside of a crosswalk, drivers have a duty to avoid collisions with people who are crossing the street. They can be held accountable for their negligence when they crash into a pedestrian if they could have avoided the accident by driving carefully.
Children are particularly at risk when they are walking to school. Drivers who fail to obey speed limits in school zones are too frequently responsible for injuries to young pedestrians. Speeding is another act of negligence that makes drivers responsible for the injuries they cause.
Compensation for Vallejo Auto Accident Injuries
Injuries caused by traffic accidents include:
- Whiplash
- Head injuries
- Back injuries
- Broken bones
- Knee injuries and other joint damage
- Facial scarring
- Burns
- Puncture wounds and infections
- Nerve damage
- Torn or stretched muscles, ligaments, and tendons
The most catastrophic injuries include:
- Paralysis
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Organ damage
- Amputations
- Loss of vision
When injuries are catastrophic, compensation must account for the lifetime expense of coping with a disability. Those expenses may include ongoing medical treatment, a caretaker or visiting nurse, or the cost of an assisted-living facility. Compensation for the loss of the ability to earn income will include the present value of a lifetime of earnings.
Injuries that are disabling but not catastrophic may still require compensation that accounts for future needs, including:
- Future medical expenses
- Loss of earning capacity
- Vocational rehabilitation
- Costs of coping with a disability, such as adding wheelchair ramps to a home
Compensation for all injuries, whether or not they are permanently disabling, should include:
- Medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Pain, suffering, emotional distress, and loss of enjoyment of life
Pain and suffering are usually the largest components of an injury settlement.
Vallejo Auto Accident Lawyer
Vallejo Car Accident Lawyer Michael Rehm can help accident victims recover the compensation they deserve. The Law Office of Michael Rehm provides compassionate service to injury victims in and near Vallejo. Our office helps victims of car accidents, truck accidents, motorcycle accidents, bicycle accidents, and pedestrian accidents.
Michael Rehm deals with insurance adjusters to maximize settlements so that accident victims can concentrate on healing. Most cases settle, but when adjusters are unreasonable, Michael Rehm uses his skills as an aggressive trial advocate to pursue favorable verdicts for clients. To learn how the Law Office of Michael Rehm can help you, call (707) 225-0731 or contact him through this website.
Vallejo Accident Resources:
Solano County Court