A Train of Thought

Just over the last couple of days we've seen two notable local news stories about vehicle collisions involving local commuter trains. One was a fatal collision involving a pedestrian and a Blue Line train in Vernon; the other was a much less serious incident involving a test of the an extension to the Expo Line which led to a incident involving a semi big-rig and a light rail train in Santa Monica. As  Los Angeles personal injury attorneys, we obviously work a great deal with the victims of accidents and their families, so this is obviously a matter of direct concern.

Serious train injuries and fatalities can have a number of causes, but it seems as if most of the worst ones could have prevented by a little common sense on the part of either a member of the public or a rapid transit employee. The most egregious example of the latter might be the 2008 texting-related crash of Metrolink and Union Pacific trains in Chatsworth, which killed 25 and injured many more. More commonly, we hear about cases nationwide where individuals seem to find themselves at railway crossings in circumstances that seem hard to understand. As personal injury attorneys, we know there are cases where people are clearly foolishly putting themselves in harm's way, with the result often being a fatality. However, there may also be times when confusing signage and other issues may actually be at least partially responsible for drivers and others being in places where they clearly have no business being.

Personal injury law can be a highly complex matter but one thing is clear -- if drivers, pedestrians, and rapid transit employees all thought through their actions in a careful manner, far fewer of these often tragic train collisions would pop up on our daily news feeds.

The Height of Head Injury Awareness

Over the past several years, player organizations representing competitors in many of America’s favorite contact sports have come forward with lawsuits or calls for change pertaining to their various leagues’ head injury policies. Beginning with football, and moving laterally to other sports as well as down to lower levels of play, the concerns are now being taken seriously by doctors, league officials, and personal injury attorneys.

Recently, much attention has been paid to youth soccer, where the U.S. Soccer organization has announced that it will start prohibiting headers in games of players aged 10 and under, while limiting the use of headers for players aged 11 to 13. This is aimed at eliminating head injuries caused by either a single concussion, or a buildup of trauma over the years. In fact, there were around 50,000 concussions suffered by high school soccer players in 2010, so the need for a reduction in these injuries is apparent.

Through his years of experience as a motorcycle accident lawyer, Cameron Yadidi Brock has spent a great deal of his time fighting for the rights of head injury patients, and has far too often seen the long-term damage that these injuries cause. If you or someone you love has suffered an injury due to the negligence of another party, call our Los Angeles personal injury attorneys today at (888) 979-7979.

What's Dangerous?

A recent news story got us thinking. It involved a New Jersey resident who was awarded over $520,000 from a local Dunkin Donuts in a case involving a number of injuries she received as a result of tripping over a spike in an adjacent parking lot. Some of those injuries included being burned by the hot coffee she was carrying.

Now, many of you reading this might not be old enough to remember the famed case of Liebeck v. McDonald's Restaurant, otherwise known as the 1994 "hot coffee" lawsuit. At the time, the case was widely disparaged in the media as an example of personal injury and product liability cases presumably run amok. However, what most people didn't realize was that the elderly woman in the case had, in fact, been seriously injured by contact with McDonald's then extremely-hot coffee. She required skin grafts and was in treatment for two years.

Whatever your opinion about that particular incident, it's a good reminder that our perceptions of danger don't always match the realities in any particular case. If you're a motorcycle accident lawyer, you know that seemingly very minor road hazards can have potentially tragic results...yet few of us actually frightened by the thought of a pothole. Similarly, coffee is such a part of many people's daily lives that the thought of being harmed by it seems ridiculous but, when kept at a high enough temperature, it really can be a serious hazard.

What it boils down to is that sometimes injuries are as much a product of someone's failure of the imagination as any other cause. If you or someone close to you has been harmed by something that didn't seem terribly dangerous, and another party is responsible, Cameron Yadidi Brock and his first-rate legal team are here for you.

The Long and Winding Road

It often seems as if technology and business move a lot faster than the law, and Uber and Lyft could turn out to be an example. We know you love them and we know why. Just a little while ago, if you needed a ride here in sprawling, public-transportation poor Los Angeles, you either had to find a friend or family member willing to take you, or fork over as much as $50.00 or more for a cross-town taxi. Today, however, all it takes is a smart phone, a credit card, and a significantly smaller sum of money to get a ride from drivers who are typically quite pleasant and professional.

It's easy to see why these services have become so popular nationwide, but from a personal injury law point of view, they might ultimately represent another one of these cases of the law being caught unawares. Presently, if a taxi or limousine company fails to properly ensure that their drivers are plying their trade safety, they can sometimes by held accountable by an automotive or motorcycle accident lawyer. But what if an Uber or Lyft driver gets involved in an injury accident?

At the moment, the services are sometimes paying damages when drivers are involved in personal injury accidents and they are also being sued in some cases of alleged assaults by drivers. A currently ongoing employment lawsuit, however, has the company arguing that they are, in fact, a software platform and not truly an employer of its drivers at all. Taken to an extreme, a legal victory for Uber could have the ridesharing services arguing its drivers are solely responsible for any injuries, regardless of their undeniable role in providing employment for drivers. It's just another case of the law getting more and more complex. It's also another reason why lawyers like our own Cameron Yadidi have no problem at all keeping busy!

Determining Responsibility

The question of legal responsibility in a vehicular personal injury case can be more complicated than you might imagine. Take Monday's terrifying accident at Los Angeles International Airport, in which a 67 year-old driver reportedly appeared to mistake a gas pedal for his Porsche's brakes, causing the car to crash into a terminal and resulting in the serious injury of a 9 year-old girl.

Of course, we know that the brunt of the responsibility almost certainly falls on the driver. Though there may be no indication of any criminal wrongdoing by the motorist, who apparently was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol, it's clear that all drivers have a responsibility to be able to competently operate their vehicles at all times. (This is especially important to remember for those of us with sick or very elderly relatives who may not be aware that their ability to drive has become impaired.)

At the same time, as this case is resolved, it may be determined by the family's legal counsel that other issues need to be addressed. Is the at-fault driver and his insurance company providing sufficient compensation to the victim and her family? Was there anything that the organization responsible for the running of LAX could have done to make pedestrians using sidewalks less vulnerable to an out-of-control vehicle?

While we obviously have no knowledge of the details in this particular case, these are good examples of why the skills of lawyer like our own Cameron Yadidi Brock are so valuable to victims in cases relating to vehicular injuries. Whether you are dealing with a case involving a head trauma resulting from a collision or are in need of a skilled and experienced motorcycle accident lawyer, we can help.

The Summer Motorcycle Season Requires Diligence for Both Car and Motorcycle Drivers

As the weather warms up and more motorcyclists hit the open road, it is important for motorcyclists and car drivers alike to remember to share the road to assure everyone’s safety. As a motorcycle accident lawyer, Cameron Yadidi Brock has far too often seen the consequences of negligent behavior on the road, and the pain and suffering that a motorcycle accident can bring. To prevent these tragedies, it is important that everyone do their part to obey the rules of the road and drive safely.

For both motorcycles and cars, that means obeying the speed limit and properly signaling any turns or lane changes. And for car drivers, that also means checking twice for motorcyclists before making these moves. As drivers, our eyes are trained to identify other cars in our blind spots but not necessarily other motorcyclists. Many of the personal injury cases that are brought to the Law Offices of Burg & Brock are caused by negligence attributed simply to a failure to pay attention.

If you or someone you love has been injured in an accident such as this, you should contact Cameron Yadidi Brock as soon as possible.

Can It Be Stopped?

On any given day, just try entering "accident Los Angeles" in the Google news search engine and you'll see just how serious the threat posed by traffic accidents remains at all times. Of course, as leading  vehicle accident lawyers, we've seen only too much tragedy related to car and motorcycle accidents. At times, the question really has to be this: can anything be done to stop the endless procession of deaths and serious injuries nationwide related to traffic accidents.

After all, as a car and motorcycle accident lawyer, you can try to obtain justice in the form of financial compensation for those who have been harmed by car accidents, but that's only helping after the fact. Prevention would obviously be ideal and, despite a great deal of truly amazing automotive technology, the litany of tragic accidents caused by negligence and human error goes on.

The Google driver-less car, on the other hand, promises to remove the human element from driving altogether and, therefore (in theory), the human tendency to do dangerous and stupid things in traffic. At least in theory, that should make an enormous difference.

Still, as personal injury specialists who've seen just about everything, something tells us that people will still find a way to have accidents. Let's hope, at least, they are far less deadly

It's Okay to be Scared!

Last week, we gave you some safety tips for Halloween, but now it's time to get a little bit more basic. After all, this holiday is a celebration of fear, and that's a good things as it tends to get a bit of bad rap the rest of the time. In any case, it's a good time to look at the upside of being afraid. 

First of all, as the offices of a top motorcycle accident lawyer, we can tell you that being truly without fear can have truly nasty consequences. While being paralyzed with dread is never a good thing, a little healthy, er, concern can make the difference between being in an accident or not being in an accident. Especially when you're riding a motorcycle, that can be a matter of life and death.

Not that driving an auto can't also be dangerous. Some people are so unconcerned about the possibility of being in a serious car accident that they fail to put on their seat belts. As vehicle accident lawyers, we are here to tell you that that kind of fearlessness can have truly horrific consequences.

Halloween night is a time when we find the fun in our fears, and that's a good thing. Life can be wonderful but it's also somewhat precarious by it's nature. It's always good to be able to control your fears and not let them control you...but you should still have them!

And, of course, if you're fears ever do come true and you need outstanding personal injury representation,  the Law Offices of Burg & Brock, Inc. are here to help. Best of all, only defendants are afraid of us!

Where there's Smoke...

Motorcycle accident lawyer Cameron Yadidi Brock frequently takes on personal injury and vehicle collision cases, but he is deeply invested in a wide range of personal injury fields. That's why he was particularly interested to learn of a case when greedy cigarette companies were taken to task.

In a personal injury case against R.J. Reynolds, plaintiff Judith Berger recently won $27 million after her attorneys were able to convince a jury that she was preyed upon the tobacco industry as a teenager - along with many other young people who begin smoking. Lawyers and Settlements.com Berger's lawyers were able to communicate a few key facts to the jury. First of all, they showed that 90% of people who smoke daily begin as teenagers, and that this demographic had been deliberately targeted by the tobacco industry - even though they were wholly aware of the addictive and damaging properties of tobacco.

The earlier a person begins smoking, the more likely they are to become addicted, and the stronger that addiction can become. That means that Berger's suffering over the course of her life was due to willful wrongdoing on the part of the tobacco maker -and fortunately, the judge and jury made certain that justice was done.

This is precisely the type of case that personal injury attorney Cameron Yadidi Brock finds the most inspiring, as it shows that innocent victims can often gain restitution for the damage done to them thanks to personal injury law. Of course, the personal injury and vehicle accident lawyers at the Law Offices of Burg & Brock, Inc. have gone a long way toward helping their own clients to achieve justice in their own lives.

It's a Dog's Life

A good news story we saw yesterday, about the outpouring of public support for a dog who'd been injured in a Culver City police chase, got us thinking. Now, don't get us wrong, we're delighted that total strangers were happy to give money to help defray the cost of treating the animal. After all, who doesn't love dogs and we're sure the owner, who might otherwise not have been able to pay for the cost of treating the 1 year-old Maltese mix, was relieved.

What's interesting is that you don't usually see such a response when one of our fellow human beings is seriously injured. As busy personal injury attorneys in Los Angeles, we help all kinds of people try to defray the cost of injuries they've received in accidents. The simple truth is that they very rarely receive any offers of financial aid from total strangers the way Gordo, the dog did.  Like we said on our earlier Facebook post, it helps to be cute! Whether we like it or not, most of us who find ourselves seriously injured after an accident will either need to be fairly compensated right at the outset, or find competent vehicle accident lawyers to finds the funds they need.

If you ever find yourself needing an automotive motorcycle accident lawyer and lack the ability of Gordo to attract random offers of fiscal support from the public, the Law Offices of Burg and Brock are here to help. Just call us at 1-888-509-2998.

When the Worst Happens

Whether we're vehicle accident lawyers, doctors, teachers, accountants, or baristas, most of us go through life fairly confident in the assumption that one day will follow on the other and life as we know it will go on. However, if we're unfortunate enough to be involved in a terrible incident, everything can change very suddenly.

The truly horrific traffic accident that occurred Thursday morning on the 60 Freeway near El Monte that killed a five year-old girl and injured 14 others, four critically, is one such reminder of the small but very real risk we all take every time get on a highway. In this case, the apparent culprit was, according to news reports, a tanker carrying milk that did not slow down for oncoming traffic. It then jackknifed over the center divider, causing a chain reaction crash that involved nine vehicles.

Lawyers are always a popular target for scorn from some quarters, but those who might question the role of personal injury attorneys in Los Angeles or elsewhere should take an incident like this into account. Although many of the facts of this particular accident are not known publicly at this time, often in these cases there are very clear guilty parties who need to be help accountable.

This is not only for the sake of the victims, who clearly have a right to be fiscally compensated following a tremendous loss -- it's also for the sake of the rest of us to ensure such incidents are as rare as possible. Corporations and individuals need to understand that putting lives at risk can have an enormous financial cost. It's one of the only means we have to actually discourage poor safety practices.

If you believe you are the victim of the negligence, or worse, in an accident and need an automotive or motorcycle accident lawyer, the Law Offices of Burg and Brock are here to help. Just call us at 1-888-509-2998.

A Tragic Bus Tour is a Critical Safety Reminder

LA accident lawyer Cameron Yadidi Brock has found success aiding clients with a number of personal injury cases. While he's well known as a seasoned motorcycle accident lawyer, he's equally adept in handling cases involving automobile collisions and even wrongful death. That's why Mr. Brock was so deeply saddened by the recent tragic story regarding a fatality on a L.A. tour bus.


Four friends were on the double-decker bus when one of them, 16-year-old boy Mason Zisette, struck his head on an overpass and died. The Channel 4 NBC affiliate in Southern California reports that the double-decker bus was chartered by Starline Tours for a private birthday party when the incident occurred on the 405 Freeway near the Arbor Vitae Street overpass, according to CHP Officer Edgar Figueroa.

The story is undoubtedly tragic, but it is especially so because it could have so easily been prevented. That's because the the boy's friends assert that they had no been given any safety instructions before boarding the bus. "When the police came, they go 'were you guys wearing seat belts?' We were like - 'seat belts?' We looked down, we didn't even know there were seat belts," said Ryan Ramey, one of the boys.

"The seats belts were literally buried under the seats," confirmed Gage Stroman, another boy in the group.

For the team at the Law Offices of Burg & Brock, Inc., hearing about preventable auto, motorcycle or even swimming pool accidents is always deeply upsetting. Yet, they are exceptionally proud to have dedicated their lives to aiding those injury victims that need help the most.