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.
School is back in session and just like you, your child is a commuter. You may drive your child to school and give them a quick tuck-and-roll drop-off, or they may ride the bus, but some still pedal their way among the throngs of cars, pedestrians, and other cyclists. Or, you may have children who only cycle at home afterschool and on weekends. In either case, we wanted to share with you 5 rules every parent should know when letting their child ride their bike in San Francisco. Children under 14 accounted for 37% of all fatal bicycle accidents in 2015 and San Francisco is still in the top 13 cities in the entire United States for bicycle fatalities with motor vehicle collisions. It is important for parents to be vigilant.
1: Urban Cycling Ends at 6:00pm
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis looks hard at fatal bicycle accidents and tries to find patterns. One that they have found to be consistently true is the spike in bicycle accidents resulting in fatalities between 6:00pm and 9:00pm during any season. If your child has extracurricular activities keeping them out, make sure they are home with their bicycle before 6:00pm. If they have come home and gone out for a ride, the same rule applies.
2: Ride with Traffic
Ride in the same direction as traffic in the bike lane. Use the travel lane (the vehicle lane) when needed to avoid obstacles and always signal your actions with your hands to tell the drivers and other cyclists what you are doing. Children under the age of 13 may ride on the sidewalk in San Francisco (CVC 21560, San Francisco Transportation Code Sec. 7.2.12).
3: Always Wear an Approved Helmet
Cyclists and passengers under the age of 18 must wear an approved helmet. Parents – set a good example, be safe, and wear one, too! Also be sure the helmet is properly fitted. Many children will wear their helmet too far back away from the brow. In addition to a helmet, adding extra reflective gear is beneficial. Elastic straps that go around the ankles with hook-and-eye closures can catch headlights and give extra visibility.
4: No Surround Sound
Headphones may not be in/cover both ears (CVC 27400). Many children like to listen to music while commuting, but they may not have both ears covered while operating a bicycle. A hands-free device is permitted in one ear, but this may cause further distractions if a child tries to answer a phone call while navigating an urban area.
5: Obey the Lights and Signs
Children who have not yet learned to drive often don’t know to stop or yield in the right locations for signs and crosswalks which can potentially lead to bicycle accidents or collisions. When on a bike, operators must obey the same rules as a car, which means they must stop at a stop sign and wait their turn. If your child is commuting on their bicycle, consider riding their route with them a few times to help explain the lights and signs to them. DMV booklets contain road rules and can be picked up free of charge.
Talk to Your Child to Prevent a Bicycle Accident
These are 5 rules we think every parent should know before letting their child ride their bike in San Francisco. In California, the law regarding riding on the sidewalk varies from city to city, but the other rules are beneficial for adults who ride and parents with children who ride throughout California. As bicycle accident attorneys in San Francisco with a second office in Paso Robles, we talk to a lot of parents with concerns after an accident or a close-call who are looking for what they can do to prevent a bicycle accident. In the urban landscape of San Francisco, children need extra help learning about bicycle safety and constant reminders to ride safe. We hope these 5 rules will help you talk to your child about bicycle safety.
If you would like more information about the rules in California, you may download our Ride Safe Reference Guide here. It has these and other rules of the road for bicycle safety in California. And if you would like to talk to one of our bicycle accident attorneys in San Francisco or Paso Robles, contact us for a free consultation today!
It takes a long time for data to be compiled and released. In March of 2017, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis released their data from 2015 with comparisons going back to 2006. By gathering data over the years, the statistical team has sought to find patterns: is there a most fatal time of day for bicycle accidents with motor vehicles, or perhaps a demographic most likely to be in a fatal bicycle accident?
There is a difference between causality and correlation: a demographic might be found in a pattern but that in no way points to an immediate cause. Something we talk about frequently is the immediate blame placed on pedestrians, pedalcyclists, and motorcyclists when an accident occurs; we blame the victim. When a bicycle accident is fatal, the victim has lost their ability to speak which is one of many important reasons why they should not be immediately placed in the wrong. All avenues must be explored. So when a demographic is found to correlate to fatal bicycle accidents, we must explore that, too.
So, is your demographic most likely to be in a fatal bicycle accident?
Gender
Gender can rule out roughly half of the population. Men are more likely to be killed in a bicycle collision involving a motor vehicle than women and it’s a fairly significant difference (4.40% men v. 0.74% women). Men were also much more likely to be involved in a bicycle collision with a motor vehicle resulting in an injury without a fatality (229% men v. 54% women).
Age
Both men and women shared their top-tier category for the age with the highest number of fatal bicycle accidents (ages 55-59, 92m/16w) while men had their second-tier follow in age (50-54, 87), women were not as significant in difference for their second-tier apart from their third-tier (65-69, 13; 50-54, 12; 20-24, 12). Women also have the most reported bicycle accidents with injuries (not fatal) at 20-24 years of age. Men in their 50s and women in their early 20s or late 50s are all in the demographic that appears to be significant for bicycle accidents involving motor vehicles.
Region
As bicycle accident attorneys, we have offices in Paso Robles and San Francisco, California assisting with bicycle accident and personal injury cases. California was the first in the nation for pedestrian and bicycle fatalities for the longest time (as advocates to reduce those numbers, it felt like an eternity). Per the Traffic Safety Facts report, California is now second in the nation to Florida. It is a big win for our state as we have a larger population. In 2015, Florida had 150 pedalcyclist fatalities while California had 129. For other readers trying to determine if they are in an at-risk demographic, these are the only two states to have more than 100 fatalities in 2015. Texas is the third highest with 50 fatal bicycle accidents. Alaska, Idaho, Maine, Rhode Island, and Wyoming are the safest states for cyclists with none (and that is the list we really want California to be on!).
So why California, Florida, and Texas? The areas with the highest bicycle injury and fatality rates are the urban areas. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has compiled city data and the cities with the highest resident populations are most often the ones with the highest total bicycle fatalities. The total fatal traffic accidents of San Francisco including fatal bicycle accidents and fatal motor vehicle collisions with pedestrian made up over 10% of the entire country’s traffic fatalities for the year. Other urban regions with dense populations and high cyclist fatality rates here in California include Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Jose. Los Angeles, CA was the city with the most fatal bicycle accidents in 2015; New York, NY, was second.
Ride Safe
If you would like to read more about the demographics collected by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, you can download their Bicyclists and Other Cyclists Traffic Safety Facts report here. But knowing that your demographic is more or less likely to be in a fatal bicycle accident is not the end of safety precautions when riding. We want you to ride safe each and every time you go out there and that means proper gear, visibility, and knowing the rules of the road.
SAN FRANCISCO, California, July 17, 2018 – (Digital Journal) – Rahman Law PC announces their sponsorship of Bike East Bay’s Pedalfest 2018. Pedalfast is in its eighth year as is a free event to celebrate bikes and cycling with music, food, and art for the whole family to enjoy. Bringing in an estimated 25,000 attendees, the event is an opportunity for the bicycle accident attorneys at Rahman Law to support Bike East Bay’s mission to make bicycling “safe, fun, and accessible” through advocacy, education, and community engagement.
Principal and founder of Rahman Law, Shaana Rahman, is a member of Bike East Bay and has sponsored Pedalfest all eight years as a bicycle accident attorney and advocate for bicycle safety awareness inclusive of improvements to bikeways and streets, which is a shared vision of Bike East Bay. While much of Pedalfest revolves around the joy of bikes with amphibious races and a bicycle rodeo for children, there is still a commitment to “improving access to biking, walking and transit” while also “increasing the number of people who ride bicycles safely, confidently and knowledgeably” from Bike East Bay.
The team of bicycle accident attorneys at Rahman Law attend as many bicycling community events like Pedalfest in San Francisco each year as they can, to talk about bicycle safety, City advocacy measures, urban bicycle accident hazards, and answer common questions from cyclists.
“We want to get out there and talk to cyclists to help raise awareness on topics that could prevent catastrophic injuries,” said Ms. Rahman. “We support Vision Zero for San Francisco and a big part of that is education.”
Last year, a common safety topic the public asked the bicycle attorneys related to bicycle lighting. The team at Rahman Law is happy to talk to cyclists again this year and free consultations are available for those who cannot make it to the event at rahmanlawsf.com.
About Rahman Law PC
The personal injury lawyers at Rahman Law PC are powerful advocates for people who have been injured through no fault of their own. What makes Rahman Law PC different from other personal injury lawyers is they care about what happens to their clients; they aggressively advocate for their clients’ interests and have a personal relationship with each client, taking the time to listen and figure out solutions that make sense from a legal point of view but also from a human perspective. By providing the highest quality legal services to those who have been injured or have suffered wrongdoing at the hands of other individuals, corporations, or public entities, the personal injury lawyers and bicycle accident attorneys at Rahman Law PC have a proven track record of results and have successfully recovered millions of dollars for clients throughout California. Rahman Law PC offers clients attentive service backed with big firm experience, making them ready to take on any opponent. To learn more about the personal injury lawyers at Rahman Law PC, visit http://www.rahmanlawsf.com or call (415) 956-9245 in San Francisco, (805) 619-3108 in Paso Robles, California.
SAN FRANCISCO, California, July 16 2018 – (Digital Journal) – Rahman Law PC announces the seventh year of the law firm’s principal and founder, Shaana A. Rahman, a personal injury attorney in San Francisco and Paso Robles, being selected to the Northern California Super Lawyer’s List. Super Lawyers® is a rating service for lawyers in a variety of practice areas broken down by region. However, the service only selects 5% of attorneys to Super Lawyers based on professional achievement, independent research, and peer-recognition. Rahman Law PC is honored to share the news of Ms. Rahman’s continued selection to this list.
The news of Ms. Rahman’s seventh year as a Northern California Super Lawyer comes shortly after Rahman Law PC was renamed on the Top 20 Personal Injury Lawyers in San Francisco list by Expertise. Both companies review customer service and client satisfaction as a part of their review. To be selected by Super Lawyers, other professional activities are also taken into consideration including pro bono work, community service, and lectures/writings. Ms. Rahman has become well known in the bicycling community in San Francisco for her advocacy work. She is a member and sponsor of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, Bike East Bay, and the Marin County Bicycle Coalition. With a second office in Paso Robles, Ms. Rahman is also a member and sponsor of the San Luis Obispo County Bike Coalition. Rahman Law PC sponsored and participated in Walk to Work Day in San Francisco on April 5th, 2018, where Ms. Rahman volunteered at the SFMTA (San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency) pedestrian hub to hand out coffee and talk to pedestrians about their rights as commuters and road safety issues in San Francisco which can lead to personal injury.
“There are many personal injury attorneys in San Francisco,” said Ms. Rahman, “but I know each time I receive recognition from a group like Super Lawyers it is because they see what makes Rahman Law PC different: we want to advocate for the rights of everyone in our community to make it a better place to live.”
Super Lawyers uses independent research and peer evaluation to make their final selection of attorneys for the Super Lawyers List. To remain within the top 5% as a Super Lawyer for five years is an accomplishment to be proud of for any personal injury attorney in San Francisco. Additionally, Ms. Rahman is in the minority as a practicing female attorney, which will place her on the Top Women Attorneys of Northern California List published later in 2018. According to the American Bar Association’s January 2017 Commission on Women in the Profession, only 34.6% of the American Bar Association lawyer members are women.
About Rahman Law PC
The personal injury attorneys at Rahman Law PC are powerful advocates for people who have been injured through no fault of their own. What makes Rahman Law PC different from other personal injury law firms is they care about what happens to their clients; they aggressively advocate for their clients’ interests and have a personal relationship with each client, taking the time to listen and figure out solutions that make sense from a legal point of view but also from a human perspective. By providing the highest quality legal services to those who have been injured or have suffered wrongdoing at the hands of other individuals, corporations, or public entities, the personal injury attorneys and trial lawyers at Rahman Law PC have a proven track record of results and have successfully recovered millions of dollars for clients throughout California. Rahman Law PC offers clients attentive service backed with big firm experience, making them ready to take on any opponent. To learn more about the personal injury lawyers at Rahman Law PC, visit http://www.rahmanlawsf.com or call (415) 956-9245 in San Francisco, (805) 619-3108 in Paso Robles, California.
When someone talks about holiday traffic and safety in California, they often focus on “the” holidays in November and December, but for bicyclists and pedestrians, the summer holidays like The 4th of July and Labor Day can be quite hazardous, possibly more so than the holidays at the end of the year because there is more cycling and walking to do in the summer when it’s so beautiful outside! We want to share three important things you should look out for this summer we’ve learned as bicycle accident attorneys working in San Francisco and Paso Robles where the summer is a great time to get outside and ride.
One: Summer Tourists Don’t Expect You
We do a lot as bicycle accident attorneys to advocate in San Francisco and San Luis Obispo County for safer conditions for cyclists. Some areas are beginning to have better lane markings and even separated bike lanes, which is great! But despite better conditions where available, at any time a tourist is unfamiliar with the road in a new place and doesn’t know to expect a bike lane or a bicyclist. They don’t know the road they are on is a local favorite for riding. They also may not have their eyes fully on the road as they look for their next turn, or at the beautiful scenery. Summer is here and so are the tourists. As a bicyclist or pedestrian, we must all be paying attention to the traffic around us at all times (and remember – we are all pedestrians at some point during our day!).
How much should we be paying attention? Not just to one car here are there, but to all of them! The San Francisco Travel Association said 25.5 million people visited San Francisco City in 2017. Not all tourists come with a car or rent one, but many do. And if you live or have been to San Francisco, you know there are many narrow and one-way streets to pay attention to. The 13% of roads in San Francisco where 75% of collisions with pedestrians are occurring are located in areas where tourists want to be (see the map and click on it to see the live version) bringing up concerns for pedestrians and bicyclists now that summer is here and has brought with it an influx of heavy tourism. This is not to say that tourism is bad – tourism is a good thing for local economies. But as bicycle accident attorneys we know first-hand the hazards cyclists face.
Two: Summer DUIs are Rising
A lot of bicycle accidents are caused by vehicle drivers who are under the influence. In California, DUIs are rising. Drivers in collisions resulting in a fatality who were impaired by drugs or alcohol rose from 26.2% to 42.6% between 2005 and 2015 (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). In San Luis Obispo, bicycle collisions have been decreasing (down 11% from 2015 to 2016), but DUIs have been increasing and in August of 2017, a cyclist was killed in a hit-and-run collision. The alleged driver was 17-years-old and intoxicated. California State as a whole appears to have seen a decrease in annual DUIs, depending on which report you read; however, holiday DUIs always show a spike which is why we want to remind pedestrians and cyclists to be careful during the summer and especially during the holidays. The 4th of July holiday is the deadliest holiday due to collisions with the most fatalities over any other time period during the year (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). As the Thanksgiving holiday has the most traffic, alcohol and drugs have to be questioned with the 4th of July. DUI-related collisions can happen at any time, but statistically are more likely to be fatal starting after 8:00pm, peaking between midnight and 3:00am (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). Remember to add extra lights to your bicycle if you plan to ride at night to give yourself as much visibility as possible. While tourists can possibly be driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs as they’ve been out partying, the locals can be to blame on this one, too. This is why we suggest keeping the phone number of a good bicycle accident attorney in your phone (hey – like us!), just in case something happens and you are unsure of what to do next.
Three: New Drivers and Teens on Summer Break
If you are the parent of a new driver, you may have heard of the “100 Deadliest Days,” but if you’re a cyclist or pedestrian and haven’t heard this term, you need to know about this. The 100 deadliest days for teen drivers fall between Memorial Day and Labor Day as these are the days when the most fatalities involving collisions and teen drivers occur. In 2016, there were about 10 people killed per day by a teen driver in this window, which was a 14% increase from 2015 (AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety). Of these 100 days, there are 10 considered the most deadly (9 falling between May and August) and are believed to be so dangerous due to teenage drinking. With or without substance abuse, new drivers are out in full force during the summer. The risk for them is highest at night (considered after 9:00pm by AAA) and/or if they are speeding. If you have a new driver, be sure to talk to them about the added risks of substance abuse, speeding, and reduced visibility. If you are a cyclist or pedestrian, be extra alert during these summer months.
Need a Bicycle Accident Attorney?
We want you to be safe and have fun this summer, but if things don’t go as planned and you think you might need a bicycle accident attorney in San Francisco or Paso Robles/San Luis Obispo, give us a call! We are happy to provide you with a free consultation. We also have two helpful free downloads you might want to save now for future use to keep in your phone, glovebox, or bike-bag:
THE PROPERTY DAMAGE DEMAND TOOLKIT: How to get the Insurance Company to Pay you for your Damaged Bike After a Crash
SAN FRANCISCO, California, 4/3/2018 – ReleaseWire – San Francisco Injury Lawyers Rahman Law PC are pleased to announce their repeat sponsorship of Walk San Francisco’s annual Walk to Work Day. The event will take place Thursday, April 5th between 7:30am and 10:00am with participation expected to exceed last year’s 10,000 pedestrian commuters.
Walk to Work Day raises awareness that everyone in San Francisco spends a portion of their day as a pedestrian. By expanding on-foot communizing times, people become more cognizant of the streets and sidewalks around them and why organizations like Walk San Francisco and their advocacy efforts are important to keep pedestrians safe from injury and keep San Francisco a walkable city.
Shaana Rahman, an injury lawyer and the principal and founder of Rahman Law PC, is on the Board of Directors of Walk San Francisco. Ms. Rahman believes in advocating to keep San Francisco safe for everyone and as an injury lawyer in San Francisco she has seen firsthand how dangerous the high-injury corridors can be to pedestrians. These corridors are the 6% of streets in San Francisco where 60% of pedestrian collisions occur which can result in injury or death.
Rahman Law PC is both sponsoring Walk to Work Day in San Francisco and will be volunteering at a Work Day Hub. Work Day Hubs will be available throughout San Francisco for pedestrians to get coffee, enter drawings for prizes, and pick up additional swag from sponsors. Ms. Rahman will be at the SFMTA Hub at Market Street and Van Ness Avenue if you would like to meet a pedestrian injury lawyer advocate in-person and learn about current advocacy efforts in San Francisco to keep it walkable.
About Rahman Law PC
The personal injury lawyers at Rahman Law PC are powerful advocates for people who have been injured through no fault of their own. What makes Rahman Law PC different from other personal injury law firms is they care about what happens to their clients; they aggressively advocate for their clients’ interests and have a personal relationship with each client, taking the time to listen and figure out solutions that make sense from a legal point of view but also from a human perspective. By providing the highest quality legal services to those who have been injured or have suffered wrongdoing at the hands of other individuals, corporations, or public entities, the personal injury lawyers and trial lawyers at Rahman Law PC have a proven track record of results and have successfully recovered millions of dollars for clients throughout California. Rahman Law PC offers clients attentive service backed with big firm experience, making them ready to take on any opponent. To learn more about the personal injury lawyers at Rahman Law PC, visit http://www.rahmanlawsf.com or call (415) 956-9245 in San Francisco, (805) 619-3108 in Paso Robles, California.
SAN FRANCISCO, California – /ReleaseWire/ 3/12/18 – Rahman Law PC announces their renewed selection to the Top 20 Personal Injury Lawyers in San Francisco by Expertise. Rahman Law PC was among the top of the list in 2017 and is pleased to announce their standing on the list a second year in a row as a San Francisco personal injury lawyer professional among more than 25 variables in this coveted, hand-picked list.
Expertise reviewed 189 personal injury lawyers in San Francisco utilizing five categories in selecting Rahman Law PC as one of the top personal injury lawyers in San Francisco: reputation; credibility; experience; availability; and professionalism. Expertise reviewed Rahman Law PC’s customer satisfaction ratings and recommendations, accreditations, awards, education and experience of the team, responsiveness to both clients and new business, and dedication to quality. As personal injury lawyers, Rahman Law PC has a proven track record of customer service and client dedication, which is reflected in their review. Rahman Law PC’s principal and founder is a member of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, was recognized as a Top 40 and 40 Attorney and a Top 100 Trial Lawyer, named an AV Preeminent Woman Lawyer by Martindale-Hubbell®, and has been a tap-rated personal injury attorney with Super Lawyers® for Northern California since 2012. Currently, Ms. Rahman and Rahman Law PC hold several distinguished titles of professional excellence, including Martindale-Hubbell’s AV Preeminent Peer Review Ratings™ for the Highest Level of Professional Excellence and Avvo’s Superb Rating as a Top Rated Personal Injury Attorney. All of these awards and ratings contributed to the review conducted by Expertise.
Expertise is a Seattle, WA based company. They will not accept money to include a business and utilize proprietary research including a manual review process to make their selections covering 85% of the United States. They aim to provide their users with the “confidence to find and connect with exceptional businesses that are objectively qualified and authentically well-reviewed” (expertise.com).
“Our team will continue to put our clients first,” said Ms. Rahman. “As personal injury lawyers in San Francisco, we work with bicyclists, pedestrians, and motorcyclists. We have a company philosophy of treating our clients with respect and advocating within our community for their rights and safety. Being named as one of the best personal injury lawyers in San Francisco by Expertise two years in a row means a lot to us; it shows us our clients feel taken care of.”
Rahman Law PC also launched a new website this year to better serve potential clients. The website includes two free PDF downloads, a free consultation request form, and insights from the team from their blog about various topics on personal injury rights, bicycle and pedestrian safety, motorcycle awareness, and advocacy events.
About Rahman Law PC
The personal injury lawyers at Rahman Law PC are powerful advocates for people who have been injured through no fault of their own. What makes Rahman Law PC different from other personal injury law firms is they care about what happens to their clients; they aggressively advocate for their clients’ interests and have a personal relationship with each client, taking the time to listen and figure out solutions that make sense from a legal point of view but also from a human perspective. By providing the highest quality legal services to those who have been injured or have suffered wrongdoing at the hands of other individuals, corporations, or public entities, the personal injury lawyers and trial lawyers at Rahman Law PC have a proven track record of results and have successfully recovered millions of dollars for clients throughout California. Rahman Law PC offers clients attentive service backed with big firm experience, making them ready to take on any opponent. To learn more about the personal injury lawyers at Rahman Law PC, visit http://www.rahmanlawsf.com or call (415) 956-9245 in San Francisco, (805) 619-3108 in Paso Robles, California.
In California especially, we protect the rights of the disabled so that they, too, are free and equal. As pedestrian accident lawyers in San Francisco and Paso Robles, California, we advocate for all pedestrian rights. Recently, principal and founder Shaana Rahman published the following in Plaintiff Magazine:
The Unruh Act broadly provides that all persons within California are “free and equal” and “are entitled to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services in all business establishments of every kind whatsoever.” (Civ. Code, § 51(b).) The California Disabled Persons Act (DPA) additionally provides that individuals with disabilities “shall be entitled to full and equal access, as other members of the general public,” to places to which the general public is invited. (Civ. Code, § 54.1(a)(1).) Both Acts broadly prohibit discrimination without qualification and require equal treatment in all public accommodations. (Civ. Code, §§ 51 & 54.)
Access to the disabled is non-discriminatory. Wheelchair access, persons with vision impairments, those with crutches or walking assistive devices, service animals… The legislation from the Supreme Court, the DPA, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the Unruh Act all lead to the same goal: “the commendable goal of total integration of handicapped persons into the mainstream of society.” (In re Marriage of Carney (1979) 24 Cal.3d 725, 738, 740.) Preventing pedestrian accidents for the disabled becomes a topic of free and equal access provided that doing so would not “fundamentally alter” the nature of the accommodation per the ADA.
Full and equal access includes the sidewalk. Uneven sidewalks can be an inconvenience to a young, healthy parent pushing a jogging stroller, but are impermissible to many wheelchairs. In San Francisco and Paso Robles, the streets and sidewalks are old due to the age of the cities, resulting in gaps, cracks, and deviations in the sidewalks greater than 1”, which can be hazardous to anyone and potentially result in a pedestrian accident. If you see a dangerous sidewalk, report it. If you are a property owner, it may be under your duty of care to repair it. Remember, the general public is entitled to equal access and many cities have ordinances placing the burden of repair for the sidewalk on the property owner. Courts have already been looking to adjacent property owners to warn and protect the public to prevent pedestrian accidents.
Courts have held a landowner who exercises possession or control over an adjacent sidewalk has a duty to warn or protect pedestrians and others who foreseeably may be in the area from dangerous conditions on the sidewalk. (See, Alpert v. Villa Romano Homeowners Ass’n (2000) 81 Cal.App.4th 1320, 1335-1337.) In Alpert v. Villa Romano Homeowners Assoc. (2000) 81 Cal.App.4th 1320, the court held that a landowner owed a duty of care to pedestrians using a sidewalk on adjoining property, where the defendant knew the sidewalk was hazardous due to roots from trees located on the defendant’s property. In doing so, the court analyzed the impact of Civil Code 1714(a), Streets and Highways Code 5610, and other authorities in determining liability. In essence, Section 5610 of the Streets and Highways Code established the rule that the owner of the property adjoining the sidewalk has a duty to maintain it. (Ibid.)
Now is a great time to go outside before the rain comes and take a look at the sidewalks around you. Are they reasonably free of defects to avoid pedestrian accidents? Do they allow free and equal access to disabled pedestrians? Are they on or adjacent to yours property? If you have concerns about liability should a pedestrian accident occur, give us a call. The lawyers at Rahman Law PC have handled many pedestrian accident cases and can help you understand the ordinances in your area.
This podcast was recorded in December of 2017 with Martin Krieg from the national nonprofit National Bicycle Greenway and Shaana Rahman of Rahman Law PC.
It is part of the Mountain Movers Podcast Series. The series focuses on people who are taking giant steps for the betterment of cyclists and the planet itself. Mr. Krieg recorded from Indianapolis. Shaana Rahman of Rahman Law PC discusses her life riding bicycles, working as a bicycle accident attorney, advocating for bicyclist safety, riding in San Francisco, and the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition. Click below to visit the National Bicycle Greenway website with the original podcast, or listen here:
Martin: Welcome the national bicycle greenways mountain mover podcast series. Here you will get up close and personal with people who are taking giant steps for the betterment of cyclists and for the planet itself.
Martin: With gratitude to Shaana Rahman of Rahman law in San Francisco California for waiting for me to get set up here in Indianapolis. I was finally able to record our long-scheduled podcast. As such I can finally show you the rich genuine kind person I’ve had the chance to work with for these last couple of years. At long last I’m able to show you a woman who mixes professionalism with warmth in our important service to cyclists who have been compromised by motorists.
Martin: Hey how are you doing today Shaana?
Shaana: I’m doing great Martin, how are you?
Martin: I’m doing great thanks for asking and now we’re just going to jump right into because there’s so much about Shaana Rahman that I need for the guy that bicycles [01:08 inaudible] to be able to understand. So Shaana before we get into bikes in law, where’d you grow up at?
Shaana: I grew up in Long Island, New York.
Martin: Is there a city out there that you grew up in?
Shaana: Massapequa, Nassau County.
Martin: Massapequa, huh okay. Did you ride a bike there much?
Shaana: I did, I had my first about my first red Schwinn when I was a kid with some babysitting money I think. It wasn’t my first bike, the first bike I bought myself.
Martin: Really! Was it like a Schwinn varsity or something like that?
Shaana: It was a baby bike. So it wasn’t even a ten-speed. The Varsity was the second one. But it was like a thick Schwinn with no hand brakes.
Martin: So, it is a coaster brake? You step on the pedal.
Shaana: Yeah.
Martin: Really?
Shaana: It was bright red.
Martin: Where’d you get the money for it? You say you bought it. Did you have a paper route?
Shaana: Yes.
Martin: Oh you did?
Shaana: Yeah, my brother and I did. I would help him, we’d split it. We were industrious kids because we grew up kinda poor. We’d do our jobs and make money.
Martin: Yeah wow it’s like I can’t tell you how many bikes and things I bought it with a paper on money. You know kids don’t have that luxury anymore. So, I guess probably I’m going to skip maybe a few years you were a kid in Long Island, there was a lot of riding around there? Do you ride much?
Shaana: Every day, yeah. It was a time when you’d just get on your bike, at like, you know 6/7/8, and our parents didn’t care, and we’d ride in a group. We’d go all through the neighborhood. You know, back then no helmets, no nothing – but big wide streets, and it was safe, and it was the thing that our parents would let us do.
Martin: Did you ever go on long rides in long island?
Shaana: Yeah, we used to do our long ride during summer. We used to ride out to jones beach.
Martin: Wow! Did ever make it up to port Jefferson?
Shaana: We couldn’t ride that far.
Martin: How long is long island anyway? Just curious about hundred miles.
Shaana: Probably at least a hundred miles.
Martin: Yeah that’d be right okay and so like you were riding your bike all the way through as a kid did you ride in high school too?
Shaana: Yeah. Yeah in high school. When I was in New York in high school, I used to ride my bike in, get to the bus take it to high school. That was my joined varsity.
Martin: That was in New York City then?
Shaana: No still in Long Island.
Martin: Okay in Long Island still okay. So, you used to ride your bike to school or ride your bike to school. Really? How cool is that? What was the name of your high school just for fun?
Shaana: Massapequa high school
Martin: Ah so okay. How about college? Where did you go to college at?
Shaana: I only moved out to California and I went to college at Santa Clara.
Martin: Yeah, your whole family moved out there?
Shaana: Yep.
Martin: And what did you lived in Santa Clara?
Shaana: We moved out to Santa Cruz and then [05:15 inaudible]
Martin: You are kidding me. So, you are in Santa Cruz in the early 90s possibly too?
Shaana: I moved out there [05:29 inaudible]
Martin: [05:28 inaudible] earth quake you were gone. So, you weren’t there that long?
Shaana: Yeah, I was there about 3 or 4 years. Then I [05:38 inaudible] first year college I lived in [05:45 inaudible] over the hill. Highway 17 was basically closed.
Martin: Yeah, I rode my bike on that one. It was very, very surreal experience. It was crazy crazy. Wow so you’re a Santa Cruz kid kind of sort. Wow! Wow! That’s amazing. You went to Santa Clara, went to school of the Jesuits.
Shaana: I did. They had the best bar. No one knows it. The Jesuits resident had the most elaborate, most impressive bar [06:23 inaudible]
Martin: You are kidding me, on campus?
Shaana: On campus. [06:27 inaudible]
Martin: So, what do you mean? It was like a bar that the drinking for alcohol?
Shaana: It was like a parlor room. Like a [06:46 inaudible] parlor room with [06:50 inaudible]
Martin: Anybody can use it huh?
Shaana: Not exactly. You have to be invited by the Jesuits.
Martin: So, it wasn’t just any student at Santa Clara could go to the Jesuits bar. You have to be invited by the priests, gotcha. Wow! And then you went from a catholic Santa Clara, catholic school to a catholic law school correct?
Shaana: I did. [07:25 inaudible]
Martin: Okay wow so you went from Santa Cruz to Santa Clara to San Francisco all the way up to peninsula and ended up stuck in San Francisco and we spoke the other day you were doing personal injury law. So, you start doing personal injury law for the longshoremen back pretty much when they ran San Francisco. You were saying that you came on board with them when they were starting to shut the ports down, is that correct? Can you tell us a little bit more about that?
Shaana: That’s right. Put myself [08:03 inaudible] longshoremen and when they got hurt at work. So, it’s more like workers comp former longshoremen and it was at a time [08:16 inaudible] of longshoremen. It was when they were starting to close the ports. So those jobs were getting a little bit scarcer. So, these were almost all men, but some women, these folks really really really wanted to work and so even when they were hurt, really bad things, bad things would happen at longshoremen. You know they would get in a hole and covered with product and they’d have pallets on them, they would have [08:47 inaudible] ripped off.
Martin: Tell us about the path you took before you started fighting for the rights of cyclists. When did you become a bike commuter, how did that all kind of evolved?
Shaana: It’s hard to say you know when I was, so I grew up riding a bike obviously and then when I lived in Santa Clara through college, it was great bike riding in Santa Clara you know to and from school and around. Because big flat wide streets and back then not a lot of traffic there and then you know after I had moved up to San Francisco, I didn’t ride for a while. Because it was kind of terrifying to me so and I didn’t have a lot of time. Because I was in law school and starting my first law job. So, I was working probably 60,70,80, 90 hours a week you know and then when I got my first plaintiffs job working for a firm representing injured people, I started doing a lot of bicycle and motorcycle cases. So, representing the rights of cyclists and motorcyclists and that’s when I started getting back into getting back on the bike in San Francisco.
Martin: Okay great and were you member of the SFBC back then?
Shaana: I became a member of the SFBC when I opened my firm about ten years ago.
Martin: Okay that would have been 2004 or so.
Shaana: 2007 yeah.
Martin: Okay great. Were you active with the SFBC?
Shaana: I have been active with them for the last ten years. I’ve had pleasure of sponsoring a number of their programs over the years and attending all their great events and the most recent thing I’ve been doing with them is sponsoring a fairly new program, it’s their Women who Ride program and it’s basically for the social and educational program for women riders. So, they do good rides and they also put on presentations about things that might be relevant to riders.
Martin: Wow! So how do you feel about riding in San Francisco now? Have you gotten over your fear?
Shaana: I have gotten over my fear. It took some time, but I would force myself to you know eight, nine, years ago ride up and down Market Street and that’s the way back then to get over your fear. Now it is actually almost pleasurable, not totally but there’s been some great improvement. But it took a lot. But SFBC was really helpful there. Because it gives gave me a community of people who could share stories and know tell you what the best route is, or you know gives you that kind of help I think. So, city riding was very different from what I’ve been used to. It’s not big wide-open streets with very few cars. It’s the very opposite of that. So, it was really learning how to navigate urban riding.
Martin: As well as the railroad tracks.
Shaana: Right, 90 degrees.
Martin: I’ve seen so many people go down on those things you know. Its hysterical and funny and even sometimes I’ve seen seasoned cyclists go down. Because they’ve let their guard down, they’ve kind of you got to hit perfectly 90 degrees what you say. Okay now in terms of your service Shaana, it’s free. But of course, that’s if you choose to take on someone’s case. How does one get that ball rolling? You do a couple of interviews. One on the phone, one face-to-face. Tell us about those.
Shaana: Sure, I’ll clarify a little bit. My service is not actually free. There is no upfront cost. I’m a contingency fee lawyer. Like all personal injury lawyers, we take a percentage of recovery. So how people get to me, people come to me. Most of my cases are referred through former clients, friends and also, I get a lot of cases referred to me from defense attorneys. The folks I argue against in cases. So that’s how I get my cases and people come to me and they call, or they send an email through our website and then some people are we then call people back who have seemed like they might have a viable case and there’s a phone process where we take a little bit of information. If they come in through the website, the website has a number of standard questions that help us better evaluate. So that’s an easier process and then if either through the website intake process over the phone intake process, it looks like it might be a case that I can take on. I have folks come in and we meet in person.
Martin: Okay so what kinds of factors come into play in you are determining whether a case is worth representing?
Shaana: There are a lot of different factors. Probably the biggest one is I want to make sure if the case meets all the criteria. You know there was a collision or there was an injury and there are certain parameters met. I want to make sure that my involvement is going to add value to that client right and so for the bike community, I get a lot of calls from cyclists who were in some sort of collision. But thankfully either were not injured or just had property damage damaged their bikes and they call really because they don’t know what their rights are or what should happen and so for those folks I will just take them through the process and if it’s a very minor injury, I’ll take them through the process of how to do it themselves. Because that’s not the case where I would add value for that. Yeah so, it’s something, not every case you don’t need a lawyer for every case. Because there’s insurance on the other side, you can sometimes work it out with the insurance company although the insurance companies do not play fair. If you at least are armed with sort of the basic information about how these things work, it can help you just resolve your issue on your own.
Martin: Okay you were saying also that you kind of look at the client then see if they are able to, express themselves appropriately and if it’s something to do with like if they’re just trying to do this out of an ego type spite thing, talk about that just a little bit.
Shaana: So, you always want, because the personal injury in the civil lawsuit system is it’s pretty narrow and what I can do. So essentially what we could do is get monetary recoveries for people who are injured right and that’s money and so if someone comes to me and they want something other than that, you know they want to be vindicated or they want to be right or that motivation is difficult. Because it’s not the thing that the system allows me to do for them. So, I look at that, I also I always meet with clients. Because I think it’s real important I spent a lot of time with my clients and I want to make sure we gel right that I like them, and they like me and because it’s an important relationship like any other relationship, you’re in a position where you both are sharing sensitive and important information you need to trust each other. So, I think that the client meeting is really important to that process to sort of assess how someone is going to be whether or not they can withstand the kind of rigors of litigation if that’s necessary. Because having a lawsuit and having a claim, no it’s not a fun process for people. You know myself and my staff we try to make it as painless as possible. But there’s still an element of having to participate and reliving the horrible thing that happened to you right and so there are some people who I feel at going through that process is actually going to be worse for them.
Martin: Okay I got it. Okay so once you choose to take on a case, pretty big mechanism gets set into place. It becomes far more than Shaana Rahman. Tell us about your staff.
Shaana: Sure, I have three wonderful women who work with me. I have Christina Guido, she’s my director of client services and she is sort of she’s me when I can’t be available. In terms of being able to be responsive to the clients, she gets information from them, gives them information about what’s going to happen next or give some documents to review and kind of also handles the initial process between potential clients and what’s become new clients and Christina is a fabulous woman. She is, I’ll give you a little bit of her background – well I’ll tell you one personal thing about her. She’s a phenomenal gospel and choir singer in her personal life. So, she is a very interesting woman. Then I have Jaylen, who is my case manager and so Jaylen runs, she runs also the office functionality and make sure we have the things we need to do our jobs. But also keeps track of the status of cases, make sure they’re moving along and coordinates scheduling with the opposing parties and so basically it keeps us on track and then I also have Anja who’s a paralegal. But also, a lawyer by training. Who graduated from Boalt and she works with me on the nitty-gritty legal issues sometimes and gets documents together and we work on preparing discovery, the litigation aspects of the case once cases filed.
Martin: Wow! Impressive-o. So, you are going beyond that you told me a kind of young-ish clientele. The people come before you tend to be younger folks, millennials as it were possible and they’re more comfortable with a paperless legal trail. Can you provide paper documents to those who need them?
Shaana: Of course. You know my clientele has just changed over the years. So, there’s a mix. But yeah so, we try to, we’ve adopted some technology in the last couple of years to be more efficient internally and also make the process easier for clients and that is largely a paperless system. But I always adapt my processes to my clients. So, if I have clients who don’t use emails. So, we don’t use email, just call and that’s fine and I have clients who only be contacted by text messages. It is easy that too and then I have clients you want old-fashioned you know they want documents in the mail and I’m happy this and you know happy to send them whatever it is. Because at the end of the day you want them to feel comfortable. So, whatever that’s going to make them comfortable, whatever is going to make them engaged in their process in their case I want to do.
Martin: Okay you got a web portal you were talking about, your clients that are comfortable with tech, they could stay in real time by… It’s a kind of niche web portal. You had a lot of a success. Tell us about the web portal.
Shaana: Sure, that was [22:13 inaudible] technology or software I guess that has been kind of important I think changing a lot of efficiency and client communication. The portal is essentially clients get a login and a password and it’s also the cloud-based program and also a phone app if you want that and you log in to basically to your case file and so there we could message each other and have [22:44 inaudible] messages, but I can upload documents for them to see or hearings that are going to be set and they can upload documents they want me to see and we can communicate that way. First of all, tremendously more secure than email and because a lot of the information we’re sharing, medical records you know paycheck stubs, things that are personally identifiable information. So sensitive, the portal gives us that extra security measure and also for ease of use, you know we’re just in one place and so we can have basically a conversation that is that we can both refer back to versus email, email becomes very difficult. Because there’s a tremendous back-and-forth and it sits there. In the portals the messages don’t sit there, you’re alerted. So, you know it’s a client who’s important like for me my inbox is not just was not just client, it was you know a thousand other people who are not on it and so it became hard you know so the clients are the most important. So, to call them from all these people sending the email was difficult. Missed me, this gives me my priority folks my clients in one place and clients whether to, I guess they don’t have to scan it, they don’t have to email a bunch of things one at a time, they can just upload documents and its pretty sequence.
Martin: Wow are other law firms using this portal?
Shaana: Yeah, they must be, product [24:20 inaudible] lawyer. So otherwise they’d be out of business.
Martin: But is our popular I’ve never heard of this before. Is it a popular system?
Shaana: I don’t know and none of my colleagues are using it, so I don’t know. I think folks are a little bit reluctant from the lawyers stand point you use it because it’s different. People are very comfortable with email.
Martin: Right so it is kind of cutting edge pretty much. Would that be correct to say?
Shaana: But it’s been around for a long time. You know a lot of lawyers are stuck in thinking about how we owe and done things. Which have been very paper driven, paper intensive and so you have to kind of reassess and kind of evaluate your processes.
Martin: Okay now you also have an office in Paso Robles. Why?
Shaana: A few years ago, I decided because I lived in San Francisco for 25 years, I decided that I was going to buy a farm, small farm down in Paso Robles and have another office down there. Because it’s a nice respite from the city and also great biking community down here and it was just something that I wanted to do. I wanted to have, I guess an alternative to urban life.
Martin: So, are you living on a farm?
Shaana: And I split my time between the two places and yeah I have a small place and a piece of land.
Martin: Wow how cool that. So, we are talking to a farming lawyer huh. How far is that from San Francisco?
Shaana: About 200 miles.
Martin: 200 miles.
[26:43 inaudible]
Martin: Okay so its little bit more treble in terms of time. So, do you find that that while your team does this work in the busyness of San Francisco, then you get a better big-picture view of what your clients need back in the city by going for a drive to your office down south?
Shaana: Well the way that we work now is so different. Because you can work from anywhere and because my practice has always required a certain amount of travel. You know I’ve done cases all throughout California right so northern and southern California up north. So it allows me to have the office in that midway point it, gives me more flexibility in the kind of places in the location of cases I can take and having good people who work with me, manage, the day-to-day and keep things running of course it allows me to do you know do the legal work and do the thing that I’m good at.
Martin: Oh, so you expand your reach?
Shaana: Well I didn’t really expand my reach except that I now have a midway point to do that from. So, it’s been encouraging me more to take cases you know from the end of the peninsula down to LA down to Santa Barbara that I might not otherwise have taken because of the distance.
Martin: So, are you doing anything in SoCal at all?
Shaana: Yes, yeah, I got a couple cases down there going now and mostly San Francisco, Paso Robles, and San Luis Obispo County.
Martin: Jiminy Christmas. So, you’ve also, you told me the other day that most of your work is in San Francisco, Oakland, and Marin county. Is that not correct?
Shaana: That has been historically what it’s been until I moved- I opened… well my younger years it was a wider swath. So, the last few times I focused on those areas because those are the cases that I was, those are the circles of cases I was getting and then expanding down to San Luis Obispo, that’s opened up the scope of areas, like cases of what I do.
Martin: So, are you doing anything in San Luis? A college town.
Shaana: Yes, my office here is fully functional.
Martin: When I said San Luis I meant San Luis Obispo County. Paso Robles is a city in San Luis, SLO County, isn’t it?
Shaana: Yes.
Martin: Okay and then there’s the actual city of San Luis Obispo and what college is that? Do you do work there as well?
Shaana: Yes.
Martin: Oh you do, great, awesome. With regard to San Francisco, Oakland, and Marin County, tell us about the bike organizations you support there besides the SFBC.
Shaana: I’ve supported Bike East Bay for a number of years and I’ve also the Marin County Bike Coalition who I’ve had a pretty special long-standing relationship with. Marin County especially I’ve done a lot of different sponsorships with them over the years. Obviously Bike to Work Day we get to be on the Bridge, on the Golden Gate Bridge on Bike to Work Day with the great folks from MCBC at 5:30 in the morning when it starts it’s freakin’ cold on the Bridge that’s the highlight of the year. Totally fun. Which was awesome on my birthday for that last year.
Martin: Wow.
Shaana: MCBS does a lot of great educational things, too. And so I was fortunate. They do a bicycle citation sort-of forgiveness training. If you will. If you’re on a bicycle in Marin County and get cited for an infraction you can go to this education class like an hour or two hours and get it written off. SO I was able to sponsor their program for a number of years.
Martin: Great! How awesome is that. You were saying there were a number of different programs you were active with right now with the Marin County folks. There is the citation one. There is something else you were talking about. Something to do with women? No?
Shaana: That was the SFBC that we talked about, yeah.
Martin: Awesome, wow. That’s so cool. We’ve covered a lot of ground now. Is there anything I’ve missed?
Shaana: No, thank you Martin for taking this time.
Martin: I’m happy to show the important service for those of us on bikes should we have a need for it, God forbid, that you’re out there. I’m very fired up to show the listenership out that there that Shaana Rahman is who she is and why I’ve always liked working with her and why I think she is an amazing peep. And so that’s it. See ya later Shaana, thank you for your time.
San Francisco was founded in 1776 and El Paso de Robles first established a post office in 1867, so both of the cities we operate offices in have a history to them and that brings with it old streets and often neglected, dangerous sidewalks (even neglected, dangerous roadways) in areas. In fact, looking for examples of images to use as broken sidewalks through the Internet made us realize how much easier it would be to go outside and snap a few photos to get better examples. In San Francisco, VisionZero is bringing attention to the “3 Es” of pedestrian safety: engineering, enforcement, and education. Engineering will of course take time and we must all keep that in mind, but education and enforcement are things we can all take part of each and every day to reduce pedestrian accidents.
We are all pedestrians each and every day, even if we only walk to and from our cars. Some people also ride bicycles or walk longer distances for health or to commute via public transportation. So taking notice of a dangerous sidewalk or roadway and reporting it can begin a process to prevent a future accident for anyone, even yourself if it’s on a route you travel frequently. Talking with a pedestrian accident lawyer is nearly always after an injury has occurred.
In San Francisco there is a mobile SF311 app to use for reporting road-related repairs as well as an online form for potholes and street/road defects. San Francisco uses separate forms for each item. In San Francisco, there is also a lot of information about getting your adjacent property sidewalk repaired here: http://sfpublicworks.org/sirp.
However, not all sidewalks belong to the City or County government. As pedestrian accident lawyers, we often must look at all addresses surrounding an accident or injury. California Streets and Highway Code section 5610 clearly states that a property owner specifically has a duty to maintain any sidewalk that fronts his or her property in a safe manner. Many cities have also adopted municipal ordinances consistent with California Streets and Highway Code section 5610, placing the burden of repair of sidewalks on the property owner. (E.g., Berk. Mun. Ord. § 16.04.010; San Luis Obispo Municipal Code § 12.16.020; Gonzales v. City of San Jose (2004) 125 Cal.App.4th 1127, 1137 [local ordinance expressly made landowners liable to members of public injured from unsafe conditions on abutting sidewalks].) In these situations, reporting the dangerous sidewalk is still the thoughtful thing to do. We have seen instances where the public entity has sent multiple notices to the property owner. There are also zoning and coding departments that you may call or write to if you know the address of the property owner and wish to escalate the matter to ensure notices are sent.
If you are beginning to review the sidewalks you encounter on a daily basis in your mind, think about the difference in elevation between the defects, breaks, or cracks. When reviewing cases as pedestrian accident attorneys, we’ve seen cases where differences of less than one inch have been considered “trivial” by the judge. Knowing that both San Francisco and Paso Robles are both kept very busy with road maintenance and repairs, you may find reporting defects in the sidewalk of less than a one-inch rise in elevation get placed at the bottom of the repair list. Your repair request may also be in a less-walked area and therefore a lower priority. In San Francisco, the Sidewalk Inspection and Repair Program (SIRP) inspects and repairs sidewalks throughout the City on a 25 year cycle prioritizing by a number of factors including pedestrian usage. Small defects can still be dangerous if unmarked and cause additional concerns for disabled pedestrians which we will address later, but if you look at the 12” defects in the sidewalks in Los Angeles, you’ll understand why some repairs might be first or last on the list.
Education and enforcement are two steps on the path to better pedestrian safety and the goal of eliminating traffic deaths within 10 years. Remember you play a big part in this!
The information you obtain at this site is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult an attorney for advice regarding your individual situation. RAHMAN LAW PC is unable to identify which statute of limitation will apply without a thorough review of your potential case. Therefore, the information contained on this website does not constitute legal advice. Statutes of limitation change as new laws are passed. You should consult with a lawyer immediately to fully evaluate your case.
You should not act or rely on information in this website without seeking the advice of an attorney. We invite you to contact us and welcome your calls, letters and electronic mail. Contacting us does not create an attorney-client relationship. Please do not send any confidential information to us until such time as an attorney-client relationship has been established.
RAHMAN LAW PC does not offer any guarantee of case results. Past success in litigation does not guarantee success in any new or future lawsuit. The information contained within this website does not constitute a guarantee, warranty or prediction regarding the outcome of your legal matter.
To the extent the State Bar rules require us to designate a principal office and/or single attorney responsible for this site, RAHMAN LAW PC designates Shaana Rahman as being the attorney responsible for the site. Ms. Rahman can be reached at 177 Post Street, Suite 750, San Francisco, California 94108, 415.956.9245.
By sending an email through this website (rahmanlawsf.com), you are providing us with your email address and permission to contact you via email. You may unsubscribe to our email communications at any time using the link provided in the email communication.
School is back in session and just like you, your child is a commuter. You may drive your child to school and give them a quick tuck-and-roll drop-off, or they may ride the bus, but some still pedal their way among the throngs of cars, pedestrians, and other cyclists. Or, you may have children who only cycle at home afterschool and on weekends. In either case, we wanted to share with you 5 rules every parent should know when letting their child ride their bike in San Francisco. Children under 14 accounted for 37% of all fatal bicycle accidents in 2015 and San Francisco is still in the top 13 cities in the entire United States for bicycle fatalities with motor vehicle collisions. It is important for parents to be vigilant.
It takes a long time for data to be compiled and released. In March of 2017, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis released their data from 2015 with comparisons going back to 2006. By gathering data over the years, the statistical team has sought to find patterns: is there a most fatal time of day for bicycle accidents with motor vehicles, or perhaps a demographic most likely to be in a fatal bicycle accident?
Download the free guide here:
