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.
We all know there is a certain freedom to riding your bike. Let’s face it, you’re one with the elements and unencumbered by the confines of the coffin like nature of your car. It’s great to be outside, soaking in the sun, feeling the wind in your face. Some days, the very experience of being out on your bike, whizzing by cars, is enough to make you feel invincible.
And we all know stopping at stop signs interrupts the blissfulness of biking. The problem is, stop signs are a necessary evil. They protect us from cars. They also show drivers that we are just like them–lawful citizens, just trying to get from point A to point B. They allow drivers to see us and then avoid hitting us!
When you ask drivers in this City what their real gripe is about cyclists, almost uniformly the response is–they’re unpredictable, they don’t follow basic traffic rules. Many cyclists disregard this response but the truth is in order to make our City sustainable and, more importantly, safe, for cyclists, cyclists and drivers have to have a mutual respect for each others space. Think of it as consensus building or a call to build a bike safe city together. So the next time you come to a stop sign, when you stop, you can congratulate yourself on being an ambassador for bike safety. It’s an unpaid, and sometimes thankless job, but needed.
Even on a boring Monday night, a stroll through this City will have you stumbling upon something that you a) have never seen before, b) find amusing or c) a bit of both. The monotony of this particular Monday night was broken up by spotting a gang, (really a group of hipsters in close to matching urban “gear”) all riding, in traditional Harley riding fashion, what appeared to be seriously old-timey mopeds through the Mission. The scene was completed by the sound of the revving of these two-wheeled munchkins for maximum effect. As they blew by the traffic, in formation, (it was Valencia so traffic was at its max. at 2mph) drivers and pedestrians alike stopped to stare. So the question becomes–is the Moped the new Vespa?
It’s been awhile since there’s been a post here and it’s time to change all of that. It is officially summer in this City as summer announces herself here like the wicked stepmother she is. One sunny day, followed by a string of miserable, windy, gloominess. It’s all just a lead up to the few weeks of Indian summer in September…
The idea of summer when you’re a kid is so intoxicating that you just can’t sit still and wait for its arrival. Once it hits and school is out, summer whizzes by as you rush from one thing to another. “Adult summer” is a different story to those of us stuck in an office all day, eagerly awaiting the weekend when we can cram in a week’s worth of summer fun into two days. Not nearly enough time. Does being a grownup mean you have to give up the fun of summer by making a “to-do” list of fun? That might not be the worst thing ever but what’s going to be on that list this summer????
Today on the Board of supervisors agenda was the review of the Bike Plans Environmental Impact Review. Today’s meeting wasn’t to discuss if the Bike Plan is good or bad for San Francisco, it was to discuss whether the EIR was adequate in it’s review. The meeting was held and it was decided that the EIR was through and adequate. Now that the study has been approved it’s time for the City Attorney to head over to the judge overseeing the case and have him lift the injunction.
The Muni shuttles millions of San Francisco residents everyday. These passengers rely on Muni to get the from point A to B in a safe, efficient manner. Recently though Muni has had two accidents that left passengers injured and has created pressure on Muni to reevaluate its measures to keeps passengers safe.
Mayor Gavin Newsom insists that the Muni is safe, “It is safe to ride Muni,” Newsom maintained, but he acknowledged, “It has been a very frustrating few weeks.”
Many news outlets have covered these Muni accidents, the first on July 18th injured 42 people when a lightrail operator blacked out causing a collision is the West Portal Station, the second occurred on August 3rd and according to eyewitnesses the Operator was distractedly engaging in conversation with a passenger. Good coverage can be found at SFappeal and KTUV.
So should people be concerned about riding Muni? Read the above links articles and ponder the question. Get back to us with your opinions!
Bike Sharing is a relatively new transportation solution. The idea has been around for a while now, the most recent inception is Paris’s Velib sharing program.
Today SFGate tackled the idea of San Francisco implementing a Bike Share Program. In January the Mayors Office announced a bike sharing plan for San Francisco. The idea has drawn criticism from many that the program is starting too small, San Francisco doesn’t have the proper bicycle infrastructure to handle a bike share program and a complaint that the bike share program would be funded by Clear Channel.
That being said this Sunday at car -free Golden Gate Park, a mini bike share program, BIXI, will be letting people give bike sharing a shot.
July 27, 2009 – Tonight Matt Gramly is going to be on KRON 4 discussing the controversial helmet law in El Cerrito, CA.
In El Cerrito, the ordinance was never posted, never published and no one knew of its existence until the police dept. went on an “enforcement campaign” and started ticketing bicyclists left and right. One of them decided to fight. Rahman Gramly took his case, took it to trial and received a not guilty verdict. It was not a big case but the principle was important to our client.
Watch him discuss tonight on the KRON 4 six o’clock news.
Transit seemed like it might be getting a fair shake via state stimulus funds. Turns out many transit agencies across the country are cutting funding and raising fares. Streetsblog reports that Illinois is facing the loss of $1 billion of stimulus funds devoted to transit projects and planning as a stop loss measure due to increasing budget woes. Even though transit ridership has increased over 9% in the last five years highway development and improvement projects are given a green light. Meanwhile AC Transit is cutting service by %15, Muni is facing a loss of $61 million over the next tow years and the state as a whole cut transit funding by $536 million.
We’ll see what happens. Let’s hop on bikes and hope for the best!
Matthew Gramly, a partner at Rahman Gramly LLP recently fought and won a case concerning El Cerrito bicycle helmet laws. Check out the press release below.
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April 8, 2009
Press Release
Bet You Did Not Know that El Cerrito has a Helmet Law for ALL Bicyclists?
On the morning of November 5, 2008 Michael Schaller, a Berkeley resident, boarded BART with his bicycle and rode to the El Cerrito station.As he had done each day for the past year, Mr. Schaller, exited the train in El Cerrito with his bike to cycle the short distance to his office.As he rode his bicycle (in a striped bicycle lane) an El Cerrito motorcycle police officer stepped in front of him and asked, “Where is your helmet?”Mr. Schaller, who was aware that the California Vehicle Code only requires that helmets be worn by cyclists who are under 18 years old, was surprised at being stopped.As it happens, the El Cerrito Police Department was in the middle of a two-day “enforcement campaign” in the area of the BART station, the sole purpose of which was to cite bicyclists not wearing helmets.
Mr. Schaller was issued a citation for violating El Cerrito Municipal Ordinance Section 11.64.100 (c), which reads, “It is unlawful to ride a bicycle as an operator or passenger without wearing a safety helmet.”The citation carried a fine of $127.Mr. Schaller, who prior to receiving his citation had been unaware of the helmet-related ordinance, chose to fight this citation and hired the San Francisco law firm of Rahman Gramly LLP to represent him.
Matthew Gramly, a partner with the firm of Rahman Gramly LLP, represented Mr. Schaller at the March 24, 2009 hearing in the Superior Court of Contra Costa County.Mr. Gramly argued that the City failed to post any notice about their helmet law, as required by El Cerrito’s Municipal Code Section 1.10.010, the citation should be dismissed.Mr. Gramly also argued that as the California Vehicle Code is at odds with the City’s helmet law, the California law should pre-empt the local ordinance.
The police officer who issued the citation testified that despite many years as an officer, he could not recall ever having issued another citation under El Cerrito’s helmet law.
After taking the matter under submission, on March 26, 2009, the Court determined that Mr. Schaller was not guilty and the citation was dismissed.Mr. Schaller and his attorneys were pleased with the result, however, Mr. Gramly noted “My partner and I represent many cyclists and as a result of the often devastating injuries we see, we encourage all of our clients to wear protective gear, including helmets. The issue for Mr. Schaller was one of fundamental fairness.”
Be warned.El Cerrito has a helmet law and they are enforcing it.
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