San Francisco Injury Lawyer Blog

Cbs5.com reported on a fatal hit and run that occurred early Thursday morning. A vehicle headed northbound on Laguna Street in San Francisco ran a red light while a cab was crossing the Fulton Street intersection. The cab then spun out, hit a pole and a car. As a result, one of the three passsengers has died. Another passenger was in critical condition after the crash while the other passenger and the taxi driver suffered minor injuries.

The San Francisco district attorney's office has arrested Eduardo Vicente and charged him with felony involuntary manslaughter and felony hit and run. According to the San Francisco police, after the collision Vicente jumped out and ran from the intersection. The police found empty alcohol containers in Vicente's car. Police are investigating whether Vicente was driving under the influence of alcohol or whether he ran a red light.

This accident raises a host of issues about San Francisco driving. The obvious here is that it is Holiday Season and drinking and driving are once again synonomous. They are a recipe for certain disaster as was evident in this crash. Be sure your uninsured motorist protection is adequate. As I have previously stated in earlier blogs, there are many uninsured drivers on the road and if one of them hits you, all you can rely on is your UM coverage. Call your broker or get on line and make sure you have adequate coverage. California minimum limits of $15,000.00 is not adequate coverage in most accidents. For the few additional dollars necessary to obtain coverage, UM insurance is the best bargain and among the most important coverages offered.

Second, if this news report is accurate, this may be one of the rare instances that, from what I have seen, that a cab driver was not at fault. Which leads us to suggest--at the risk of being redundant: wear your seatbelt especially in a cab! For whatever reason, many of us think that since we are in the hands of a common carrier, we are safe, or safer than when we drive. In this City, as in New York, nothing could be farther from the truth.