Sacramento Car Accident Lawyer Blog

Sitting at the light just like I did every day of the week on my ten mile commute to work, I started adjusting the radio. I was tired of the talk radio and looking for some “feel good” music when BAM! My car leaped forward like a rabbit and I automatically pressed the brake harder to stop it before I hit the cross traffic.

What a shocker! I had just been rear-ended and I had no clue. I felt like I had just dropped 10 floors in an out of control elevator and hit the bottom floor at full speed.

Now the traffic light turned green and cars on each side of me moved forward leaving me sitting there like a stranded ship. I pushed myself up from the steering wheel and looked in the rear view mirror. All I could see from my low sedan was my rear window full of an SUV grill. It looked enormous even though it was just a regular SUV.

Traffic was passing me like a rock in a stream as I checked my fingers to see if they worked. Everything seemed to be OK. I turned the rear view mirror towards me to see my face, which also looked OK. My nose was starting to throb and I could feel my heart beating.

I noticed the door made a new squeaking noise as I opened it and carefully stood up out of the car. I felt like I was getting out of bed after a bad nights sleep.

I slowly walked back to the SUV and all I could see through the windshield was air bags and a hand pressed against the driver’s window.

Continue reading "Rear Ended in Sacramento - What a Shocker!" »

I have been riding for years and I take pride in my rider skill level. I do all of the right stuff, all of the time. I wear a helmet. I maintain a buffer zone around me, never riding side by side with any cars and so on.

It was a beautiful Sunday morning as I rode along Auburn Boulevard here in Sacramento, California. This stretch of Auburn Boulevard is four lanes, two in each direction, posted speed limit 35 mph, and the road is tree lined residential with businesses and apartments dotting the roadside.

My Harley was running great; the air was warm and sweet with the summer smells of gardens and pine. I was in the left lane doing about 40 mph with a slower car on my right side in the slow lane. I had seen this car from about a half mile behind and it was riding along straight and true, no problem. I intended to just continue on past it and continue my ride.

Without warning, another can changed lanes from the slow lane into my lane. It was doing 50 or 55 mph and never hesitated as it roared into my right side.

The way accidents happen on a motorcycle is that they happen right now. I mean right now! You make a decision and go with it right now. Making no decision or a slow decision is not an option.

Continue reading "Sacramento Motorcycle Rider Loses Focus" »

Unless your name is Evil Knievel, you are probably a person who likes to avoid perilous situations while driving your car. Here are a few suggestions that might help:

1. Never drink and drive,
2. Don't speak on your cell phone without a hands-free device,
3. Check your side-view and rear-view mirrors often, and
4. Avoid Watt Avenue.

While the first three suggestions are fairly common, if not well-followed by most drivers across the country, the fourth is probably new to you.

According to a report by Caltrans, called the "5 Percent Report," Watt Avenue is among the most dangerous streets in California. The report is based upon the crash rates on half-mile segments of streets between 2004 and 2006. The study included local cities Folsom, Orangevale, Rancho Cordova, CItrus Heights, Carmichel, Roseville, Placerville, and others. The city of Sacramento is the second most crash-prone city in California, with nearly 100 high- accident "hot spots." Of those one hundred hot spots, 9 are situated along Watt Avenue.

According to the Sacramento Bee, Watt is prone to car accidents because it is one of the few streets that not only crosses the American River but also connects Highway 50 and Interstate 80. The high number of streets that pour into it and the nearby popular Arden Fair mall doesn't help either. For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

California Highway Patrol's Lizz Dutton commented to the Bee,

It's an aggressive street. It's so busy, and people are coming at you from every direction.

Continue reading "How to Avoid a Car Accident in Sacramento" »

Anthony James Payne, 23, was thrown 200 feet as a result of a head-on collision between his Honda motorcycle and a 2004 Pontiac Grand Am car. It was after 7:45 PM on Thursday evening, August 14th on Carson Road in Camino. Carson Road is a secondary road that parallels HWY 50 about five miles east of Placerville on the road from Sacramento to South Lake Tahoe.

(See the Sacramento Bee article Tuesday, November 25, 2008)

When a 388 pound motorcycle (Honda 1000) hits a 3,066 pound 2004 Pontiac Grand Am, head-on, at speed, the end result is a predictable tragedy. The motorcycle rider is dead and the young age of 23. The driver of the car, Melissa Nicole Nichols, 23, survived the crash and was booked into El Dorado County Jail on Friday (08-15-08) on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter.

The suspicion of vehicular manslaughter charge means that the police suspect that this crash was not just a horrific accident, but a horrific accident that could have been prevented.

But for the motorcycle rider, Anthony James Payne, what could have happened no longer matters. It no longer matters to his family, his friends, his ambitions or his dreams. You just cannot reach into the past and change the outcome.

Anthony James Payne was not the only victim of this tragedy. His loved ones have become unwilling victims of the Thursday evening head-on collision. They have lost a loved one. Their lives have been unalterably changed forever.

Here at the Law Office of Moseley Collins (Sacramento, California), we believe that you have the right to an experienced attorney who will fight for the compensation you deserve. If you have been involved in a motorcycle accident and need help, please call us at 916.444.4444. There is never a fee until we win your case.