California Injury Lawyer Blog

Seven people were injured March 31 when a T-Line San Francisco Muni rail train struck a Ford Econoline van with Florida license plates and tourists onboard. The Bayview crash occurred at about 7:45 p.m. Wednesday night at Third Street near Underwood Avenue. It was the second injury collision involving a Muni vehicle on Wednesday. A few hours earlier, two pedestrians were sideswiped by a light rail car at Ocean Avenue and Capital.

According to reports by NBC News, the van's driver was following verbal directions from a GPS unit inside the vehicle. The gadget told him to turn left and he did, without seeing the light rail train heading in its direction, and a clearly marked sign indicating there is no left turn allowed. Four people in the van and three people on the train were injured. At least two of the people suffered serious injuries. Police also reported an open container of alcohol was found inside the van. Whether or not the driver was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash is not known. The incident remains under investigation by San Francisco police.

If the news reports of this accident are accurate, the driver of the van is probably at fault. Regardless of what a navigation device tells a driver to do, the driver still has the responsibility to follow the rules of the road and drive safely. While this incident remains under investigation, both the passengers in the van and those injured on the Muni rail train would be well-advised to contact a San Francisco personal injury attorney as soon as possible. An attorney can help them protect their rights and recover full and fair compensation for their injuries, lost earnings, pain and suffering, and other expenses related to the Muni accident.

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Nine people were hurt early Tuesday, January 5, 2010, when a San Francisco Municipal Railway bus collided with a small truck shortly after midnight. The bus accident occurred near 18th Street and De Haro Street. The collision forced the bus off the roadway and into some nearby bushes.

Seven people were taken to a nearby hospital with moderate to serious injuries, including the driver of the inbound Polk-19 bus. The driver of the truck, who suffered serious injuries, was pinned in his vehicle and had to be extricated by rescue crews. The cause of the crash is under investigation by Muni officials and the San Francisco Police Department. Muni officials have not yet commented on the San Francisco Municipal Railway bus crash.

Thankfully, everyone survived this crash, and hopefully, everyone involved will fully recover from their injuries. Based on the initial reports in the San Francisco Chronicle, it is impossible to tell what caused this collision, why the bus and the truck collided. Was there something mechanically wrong with the bus, or did the driver suffer a medical condition? Was the driver of the other truck drunk, reckless or negligent? Was the bus driver distracted or negligent on his part? The investigation will hopefully answer these questions and determine what caused this accident.

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