San Diego Personal Injury Attorney Blog

Why Is It So Hard to Get a Bike Lane in California?

Bike safety advocates have been trying for years to install bike lanes in California, but have repeatedly been thwarted by a seemingly impenetrable wall; the California Environmental Quality Act. The environmental bill has continually prevented hundreds of miles of bike lanes according to advocates. No matter how beneficial or obvious it is that a particular street needs a bike lane, it rarely happens. Bicycle safety advocate groups, such as Bike East Bay, have called CEQA “hugely frustrating” and lament that its purpose seems to be primarily about saying no, rather than saying yes to good ideas. By requiring extremely long public hearings, increasingly expensive traffic studies and extensive road changes before a bike lane can be installed, the bill, which is supposed to promote environmentally beneficial projects, has been a nightmare for cyclists. One of the more common issues bike lane advocates run into is that CEQA requires officials to…
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What is the Electric Bicycle Law in San Diego?

Bikes haven’t come a long way in the last 100 years, but one major advancement is the electric bike. With this technological marvel comes new rules, which is kind of a bummer, but it’s for our own safety, I promise. A new electric bicycle law was actually passed recently that anyone on an electric bike should really know about. Back in October of last year, Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a bill designed to clarify the differences and the regulations between regular old bicycles and the future. Some popular organizations were behind the bill, including PeopleForBikes, the California Bicycle Commission, and the Bicycle Product Suppliers Association. What Does the New E-Bike Bill Say? The purpose of the new bill is to clarify how and where e-bikes are allowed to be used. This also includes regulations pertaining to what kinds of equipment should be used during operation of an e-bike….
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Why Is This Dog Bite Lawsuit a Federal Case?

A woman in San Diego filed a lawsuit against the police department in 2010 after she was attacked by a police dog. According to the suit, the plaintiff had been out drinking with friends the night of the incident. Afterwards, she went to her place of work instead of home and fell asleep on the couch in her office. She reportedly failed to disarm the security system, which then alerted the police. When the police arrived, they say they called out a warning to anyone inside the office building, but heard no response. That’s when they let the dog loose. The animal is trained to search a property and use a “bite and hold” technique to subdue the first person they find. This dog attacked the face of the sleeping plaintiff. Did She Win Her Civil Lawsuit? Three years after filing her civil lawsuit, a federal trial court dismissed the…
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