Personal Injury Lawyer

The personal injury lawyers at Rahman Law PC are powerful advocates for people who have been injured through no fault of their own.  These personal injury blogs contain articles with information relating to personal injury law, personal injury lawyers, and personal injury cases of interest.

City Low on Funds for Street Repair

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Source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/10/11/BA6J1FMK31.DTL

SF’s Department of Public Works is facing a $533 million backlog just to keep up with the city’s current pavement condition. This backlog is looking to grow to $750 million during the 2010-2011 fiscal year.
But as all cyclists and motorists have seen, the streets needing repaving are multiplying much quicker than the city has means to fund it. According an article in today’s SF Gate, “The department filled 15,334 potholes in the past fiscal year and has received 2,274 complaints of street defects so far this year.”
The department is dealing with this by targeting the streets in the greatest states of disrepair, but, unfortunately, these are the streets that will cost the most to repave.
Major Roadway Repaving Projects for 2010-2011:
Under Current Construction:
  • Fell St. from Polk to Steiner
  • Bush St. from Van Ness to Franklin, Octavia to Laguna, Buchanan to Steiner, and Pierce to Presidio
  • Monterey Blvd. from Ridgewood to San Anselmo
  • Santa Clara Ave. from St. Francis to San Anselmo
  • Eddy St. between Van Ness and Cyril Magnin
  • Ellis St. between Van Ness and Powell

Anticipated:

  • Woodside Ave. from Laguna Honda to O’Shaughnessy
  • O’Shaughnessy Blvd. from Portola to Bosworth
  • Noriega St. from 19th to 27th Aves.
  • Holloway Ave. from Harold to Junipero Serra
  • Bush St. from Battery to Montgomery, and Grant to Van Ness

It seems the city will finally be addressing some of the dangers on the road. So keep a look out for these changes and other hazardous streets. To report dangerous conditions, call 311 (or 415-701-2311).

Tragic Muni Collision

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Yesterday evening, 22-year-old Derek Allen collided with the 44’OShaughnessy Muni bus and was declared dead at the scene.

According to an SF Gate article, Allen was riding on the sidewalk before riding off the curb and in front of the bus. The driver tried to swerve out of the way, but “both Allen and his bicycle ended up under the bus.” Muni tested the driver for drugs and alcohol, but further details of this accident have not yet been released.
From the details given in the article, it appears that the driver is not at fault. However, this tragedy is just further evidence of the danger cyclists face in our city and that we must find ways to prevent an accident like this from happening again.

Coming Up: Biketoberfest and SF Bike Expo

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Have some fun and mingle with other cyclists on Saturday October 16th @ Marin’s Biketoberfest and on Saturday November 6th @ SF Bike Expo.

Biketoberfest promises live music, beer tasting, and group rides. Doors open at 11 A.M. and it’s FREE.
SF Bike Expo starts 10 A.M. and is $10 in advance, $12 at the door. Come and check out the demos, the vendors, and the eclectic buzz of all kinds of cyclists.

We’ll be at both events all day so be sure to check out our booth and say hi!

Caltrain Increases Fares: Big Surprise

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Firstly, fares are going up by 25 cents in each of the six zones and by 75 cents if you’re commuting between San Francisco and San Jose, making your ride $8.50. The monthly pass for these two cities is going to be $225.00, going up by $20.00.

Secondly, four weekday trains will be eliminated.
And finally, just to pour salt into the already gaping wound, service cuts will make it so that trains only arrive once an hour.

These changes are all in an effort to fix Caltrain’s $2 million budget deficit. But Caltrain riders would be interested (and infuriated) to know that even with this deficit, the administration’s payroll has increased by 14% in the past three years.
Caltrain, cover up; your greed is showing.

With Apologies to Henry David Thoreau

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Thoreau once wrote, “Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.”
Well, in San Francisco, it’s going to be rather difficult to accomplish this transcendentalist goal thanks to Junaio.
Junaio is a “mobile augmented reality browser.” And unless you work in software programming, chances are you’re going to have to google what that phrase even means.
So what does it do? Junaio “provides users with interactive web-based information and services wherever they are” as an application for the iPhone and the Android.
According to the company, users need only to point their camera and are instantly fed historical and logistical information regarding their surroundings via the web. Effectively, with Junaio, people will never be lost.
BART recently teamed up with Junaio, supplying the latter with its API (application programming interface). According to BART, this collaboration will allow for the following:

“Junaio lets users tag photos, audio and text in the real world and leave digital ‘crumbs’ behind at particular locations for others to explore. For example, a rider coming out of the Montgomery BART Station in San Francisco could see recommendations left by friends for restaurants or shops to try that are nearby that station. Or, simply by pointing the camera on her phone, a user could find the direction of the nearest BART station and get a list of estimated arrivals for the next several trains to her destination.”

An ABC article said that, “New York hasn’t done this. Chicago and Washington haven’t done this” so it would seem that thanks to BART, San Francisco is one of the first major cities to use this technology.
The act of discovering a new favorite cafe requires no more effort than the tap of a finger now. For this generation, technology is the preservation of the world, not wilderness. Sorry, Thoreau.

Biking is the New Black

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NYtimes: “The number of adult female cyclists is growing faster than that of men […] Some of these women seem to view their bikes, equipped with high-end saddle bags and bells, as a stand-in for a car […] ‘A bike in New York City is sort of what a convertible is in Los Angeles,’ said Bonnie Morrison.”

Leave it to the ladies of New York City to turn their bikes into a fashion statement. These new bike-enthused women ride around the city heeled and helmet-less. Ignoring the obvious hazards of this trend (though, these women shouldn’t), it must be noted that San Francisco has been there and done that.
Compared to New York, we may not be considered fashion forerunners, but we have been biking and doing it with style for a long, long time. And in the bay, we’ve been working pretty hard on safe biking. So a word of advice from SF to NY? Put on a helmet or get off that bike. Your bike may be chic and in right now, but I can guarantee that your accident won’t be nearly as cute.

Rule-Breaking Riding in Berkeley

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For a college town like Berkeley, it can be pretty dangerous to bike, walk, and drive anywhere. A lot of rule-breaking seems to be at the root of this road anxiety.

Drivers have to look out for swarms of jaywalking students and swerving cyclists. Pedestrians need to stay alert for cyclists coming up from behind at very quick speeds. And because cyclists in Berkeley share both the road with cars and the sidewalks with pedestrians, they are in as much danger of hitting a pedestrian listening to their iPod as they are of getting hit by hurried drivers.
So far this year, 129 bicyclists have been injured in Berkeley. President David Campbell of the Bicycle Berkeley-Friendly Coalition suggests that reckless riding might be one reason for accidents. According to Campbell in a recent Oakland Tribune article, many cyclists don’t follow road rules because they have never learned them. Because unlike driving, where a test and a license are required, cyclists need only a bike to start roaming the streets.
As a result of complaints from the community, Berkeley police have been on the lookout for rule-breaking riders with citations ready. Last Thursday, within just two hours, officers handed out 19 citations, some costing cyclists more than $200.

Berkeley police are hopeful that this crackdown will encourage cyclists to pay attention to the rules. And to aid in their mission, the BBFC is offering free classes to teach rules of riding, the basics of which are, “Stop at stop signs, yield to pedestrians, stop at red lights, don’t ride on the sidewalk and don’t ride in crosswalks.”

AC Transit’s Third Major Service Cut of the Year

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Last March, AC Transit cut its service by 7.8%. Next up is a 7.2% cut starting October 31st. And to wrap up this year of commuting hell, last Wednesday, the board of directors approved of yet another service cut to go into effect in December.
December’s cuts will:
  • save the district 11.1 million dollars (theoretically)
  • lay off 90 union workers
  • eliminate 39 weekend routes, leaving just 17 lines

Not only have these changes been approved, but AC Transit spokesperson Clarence Johnson has said that the board directors will likely start voting on outsourcing services at their next meeting, potentially laying off even more union workers.

AC Transit’s director Chris Peeples’ stance was, “We may have to do it because of the amount of money it saves.” Meanwhile, several people are laying blame for the budget issues on AC Transit itself due to their “years of fiscal irresponsibility.”
It seems that yet another corporation has shown us that the importance of the money will always outweigh the importance of the people.

Muni Frustrations

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According to a recent survey conducted by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, only 52% of polled Muni riders have rated service as good or excellent. This percentage is the lowest approval rating in almost a decade.

Within the past year, Muni decreased service and drastically increased prices for its monthly pass from $45 to $70.
Despite the low satisfaction ratings, chief Nathaniel Ford of the SFMTA remains optimistic and believes that the changes made to Muni in the past year have caused negative impacts, but will ultimately lead to positive changes.
The SF Examiner got the opinions of two Muni riders with differing reactions. One stated that, even with the changes, Muni still “works for her.” The other rider disagreed with chief Ford’s assessment, citing issues with fare increases and the bus schedule’s undependability.
In a city, and especially a city whose residents depend so heavily on public transportation, a 52% satisfactory rating is far too low. The SFMTA needs to seek further ways to improve Muni in order to get where its commuters need to go, safely and satisfactorily.