Category: Motor vehicle accidents

Motorcycles are, unsurprisingly, some of the most dangers vehicles on the roads, even when they are functioning correctly and are being operated safely. Motorcycles offer very few protections for their riders and they often travel and high rates of speed. Many drivers fail to see them, causing accidents. Because of the inherent safety issues with motorcycles, it is critical that they are correctly designed in order to meet riders’ safety needs. If a mechanical problem with a motorcycle is the cause of an accident, the manufacturer may be held liable for damages.

Motorcycles have a lot of moving parts, any of which can fail, causing an accident. Wheels may not be properly aligned. Brakes can fail to cause a motorcycle to stop or can cause a motorcycle to stop too suddenly. Accelerator defects can cause the motorcycle to speed up too quickly or to fail to accelerate when needed. A malfunctioning kickstand can cause the motorcycle to fall on the rider. In any of those situations, the motorcycle’s manufacturer or another party may be held liable for the accident.

If you have been injured in a Los Angeles motorcycle accident, you must be careful to safeguard as much evidence as possible, which can help determine if a defect with the motorcycle or someone else’s negligence caused the accident. If your motorcycle was ever recalled, that can provide evidence of a defect with the bike.

Call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles motorcycle accident attorney at 310-385-0567 if you have been injured in a motorcycle accident. I can help. Call today to learn more or to schedule your free consultation.

You may have some legal options for compensation of which you are not aware. It’s important that you speak with a Los Angeles pedestrian accident attorney quickly after the accident in order to protect your legal rights.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 125,000 pedestrians annually are treated for crash-related injuries. Over 5,000 of those are killed in those accidents involving vehicles. Unfortunately, many of those drivers choose to flee the scene of the accident, leaving the pedestrian injured and without way to make a claim against the driver.

However, you may have legal options to obtain compensation, depending on the facts of the accident. You must be able to prove that the driver was negligent, that the driver’s negligence harmed you, and that you suffered damages as a result. If you are successful, you may be able to obtain compensation for your pain and suffering, medical expenses, lost wages, and more. That compensation may come from your insurance policy, the insurance policy of the driver if he or she can be located later, or from another third party who is responsible for the accident.

Call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles personal injury attorney at 310-385-0567. I can help. Call today to learn more or to schedule your free consultation.

A Chicago woman filed a lawsuit against Uber, claiming that she leased an unsafe vehicle from the company which left her unable to make loan payments and without a reliable vehicle. The woman, who is a single mom, leased a 2015 Chevy Malibu from Uber. The vehicle only had 15 miles on it.
The woman worked as a driver for Uber and says that she was told to expect that she would make more than enough money as a driver to make the lease payments on the vehicle. She also believed that her flexible schedule as a driver would give her the freedom to pick up her daughter from school.
Instead, the woman claims that the car she got was unsafe and undriveable. She asked Uber for a replacement vehicle, which she says could not be used to give rides using the Uber app. This left the woman unable to make her loan payments.
Another woman joined the plaintiff in her lawsuit. Both women began driving with Uber through its auto-leasing business called Xchange Leasing. Their attorney says that Uber came up with its auto leasing program in order to push predatory lending terms on minority drivers who did not have vehicles. According to the lawsuit, the program was intended to provide vehicles to drivers with low credit scores. The lawsuit also alleges that down payments and lease payments were much higher than advertised.
Uber shut down its leasing program after discovering that it was losing a large amount of money per car. The FTC filed a complaint against Uber, claiming that it misled drivers with exaggerated earning claims. Uber agreed to pay $20 million to settle those FTC charges. The plaintiff in this case alleges that she was told she would make $6,000 a month, but that she only took home about $10 an hour after gas and mileage. She also claims that she almost got into an accident while driving an Uber passenger because the lease car would not go more than 20 miles an hour at the time.
Uber and Lyft have been facing a barrage of lawsuits in recent months. Most are due to the companies’ failure to properly vet drivers, which has led to assaults, accidents, and other dangers to riders. If you have been injured by the wrongful actions of a driver for Uber or Lyft, you should speak with an attorney. If you are in Los Angeles, call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles personal injury attorney at 310-385-0567. I can help. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation on your case.

Back in March of this year, one of Uber’s self-driving cars hit and killed a pedestrian, which was the first pedestrian fatality involving an autonomous vehicle. The accident occurred in Tempe, Arizona. The victim stepped into a busy section of a road, and one of Uber’s self-driving Volvo SUVs ran into her at 39 miles an hour, killing her. The woman was jaywalking and later tested positive for meth and pot use.

Inside the vehicle, an Uber employee was working alone. Her job was to watch the car drive itself and to take control of it if it had any issues. Her job required her to take her eyes off the road to enter date into an app. However, the woman was streaming a television show on her phone. She looked down to see the show and looked up just as the car hit the woman.

When employees discovered the woman inside the vehicle was watching television and was a felon before she was hired by Uber, they vilified her. However, experts say that neither the jaywalking accident victim nor the Uber employee are the only factors in the accident. Many say that there were very questionable decisions made by the employees who built the self-driving car.

The vehicle allegedly detected the accident victim six seconds before it hit her, and knew it needed to brake, but it could not because of the way the vehicle was programmed. In addition, the car’s creators disabled its own emergency-braking factory settings and tinkered with the vehicle’s ability to swerve. Insiders say that the issues with the vehicle are the result of chaos inside the organization. After the accident, Uber grounded its self-driving fleet.

Self-driving vehicle technology is still in its infancy, and as it continues to develop there will likely be more accidents involving injuries and deaths. If you are harmed by a self-driving vehicle or an Uber or Lyft vehicle in the Los Angeles area, you should speak with an attorney. Call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles personal injury attorney at 310-385-0567. I can help. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation on your case.

Brain injuries are the leading cause of death and disability in children. Children are more susceptible to these types of injuries than others. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every year almost half a million children are treated at emergency rooms for brain injuries, and over 2,000 die from their injuries.

Any head injury can produce the possibility of trauma to the brain. In some cases, symptoms may be seen right away, while others can take hours or even days to appear. Each brain injury is different, depending on how severely the brain was hurt and what part of the brain was traumatized. Some common symptoms of brain injuries include swelling, headaches, confusion, trouble concentrating, nausea, loss of consciousness, changes in vision, trouble balancing, sensitivity to noise and light, and more.

If a brain trauma is suspected, the child may have diagnostic tests or scans done, which can help determine if the brain has swelling, hemorrhaging, or other damage. Depending on what type of injury has occurred, the child may simply need rest, or surgery may be required.

Many children who suffer brain injuries will have lifelong disabilities. Those disabilities can be very expensive and can negatively affect the rest of your child’s life. If your child has suffered a brain injury, you should speak with an attorney in order to pursue compensation for your child. Call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles personal injury attorney, at 310-385-0567. I can help. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation.

Lyft, the popular ridesharing company, was recently sued for the actions of a driver which allegedly resulted in the death of a man in southern California. The man’s parents claim that Lyft’s hiring processes are negligent and that the company is responsible for the driver’s actions.

The death occurred when a man ordered a Lyft to his friend’s house in the Los Angeles area. During the ride, the man and the driver became involved in an argument, which resulted in the driver pulling over to the side of the freeway. The driver pepper-sprayed the man and ejected him from the vehicle, leaving him on the side of the freeway. The man was later struck by a vehicle and killed.

The lawsuit claims that Lyft hires thousands of non-professional drivers with very little screening involved. The lawsuit also claims that Lyft is the employer and principal of Lyft drivers, making Lyft responsible for the actions of its drivers. According to the lawsuit, Lyft does no training of its drivers and does a poor job of screening those drivers, with few requirements that must be met to become a Lyft driver.

If you or a loved one has been harmed by a Lyft or Uber driver, you should speak with an attorney. If you are in the Los Angeles area, call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles rideshare injury attorney, at 310-385-0567. I can help. Call today to learn more.

Recently, a Lyft driver in California was sued, along with Lyft, for his actions that resulted in the death of a passenger. Earlier this month another woman in California had a frightening experience with a Lyft driver. The company has come under criticism for its hiring process, which is done entirely online and may not result in safe, high-quality drivers.

The incident that resulted in a passenger’s death occurred in January 2018. A passenger was riding with a Lyft driver and the two became involved in an argument. The Lyft driver pulled over to the side of a busy freeway in Los Angeles, pepper-sprayed the passenger, and ejected him from the vehicle, leaving him on the side of a freeway. The passenger was later struck and killed by another vehicle. His parents sued Lyft, claiming that the company was negligent in its hiring procedures.

The latest incident to occur with a Lyft driver happened in Sacramento. A passenger ordered a ride from a Lyft vehicle in order to pick up her husband from the hospital. Once she and the driver got on the freeway, the driver began laughing and then crying at the same time.

The driver then began driving erratically, took his hands off the wheel, covered his eyes with his hands, and told the passenger to direct him on the road. The passenger finally convinced the driver to pull over in a shopping center. She ran into a Starbucks and called the police. They found the driver locked in a gas station bathroom covered in soap and trying to bite the officers. He was taken into custody and put on a mental health hold. The company said that it deactivated the driver’s account and has been in contact with the passenger.

Many advocates believe that Lyft and other rideshare companies do not screen potential drivers carefully enough. If you believe that you have been harmed by the dangerous actions of a rideshare driver, call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles rideshare injury attorney at 310-385-0567. My team is currently working on a lawsuit against Lyft. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation.

You are far from alone – there are a lot of automobile accidents that happen when the driver is making a left-hand turn across oncoming traffic. These accidents are especially prevalent at intersections. In order to successfully turn, the driver must be aware of not only the vehicles traveling in the opposite direction, but also pedestrians that are crossing the street. If the driver is distracted or misjudges the turn an accident can occur.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration performed a study on automobile accidents and found that left-hand turns accounted for the highest numbers of crashes in the study, causing over a fifth of all accidents. In these left-hand turn accidents, almost all of them were attributed to driver error. In most of the accidents, the driver failed to look to make sure it was safe to turn. Drivers in the study also drove too fast, performed illegal maneuvers, or turned with an obstructed view, leading to an accident.

Help is available for victims of automobile accidents caused by issues with left-hand turns. The negligent driver can be held liable for damages, including compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and more. Call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles automobile accident attorney at 310-385-0567 to learn more about your legal options.