According to the SanFrancisco Examiner, a major-injury motorcycle accident earlier this week disrupted traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge during morning rush hour.

A southbound motorcyclist rear-ended a Toyota 4Runner just north of the toll-plaza.

Further, according to Nevada Highway Patrol reports, last night a 49-year-old Landers, California woman died after being struck by a car traveling in the wrong direction.

When motorcycles and cars collide, the potential for injury to the motorcyclist is great. Unlike cars, motorcycles have no shell protecting the rider from the full force of an impact when an accident occurs. As a result, crashes often lead to serious, even fatal, injuries.

Although motorcycle fatalities are down, these accidents serve as a reminder of rider and motorist safety. These safety tips include the following:

• Wear a helmet and other safety gear

• Don't drink and ride

• Pay attention to speed and roadway conditions

• Try to avoid motorists blind spots

• Assume people in cars can't, or don't, see you.

Recently, the California Highway Patrol has launched several campaigns to raise public awareness about motorcycle safety.

For more information, or if you have been injured in a motorcycle accident, contact the Law Office of Frederick J. Sette, dedicated to helping the injured for more than 15 years.

A Ridgecrest, California woman was sentenced to two years and $2000 for a DUI accident in Nevada causing substantial physical injury to a woman from Rocklin. Constance Marie Forrest was nearly three times the legal limit when she ran into Sandra LeCompte and her husband.

Forrest was arrested after the Nevada Highway Patrol saw her vehicle going the wrong-way on I-80. By the time the NHP caught up to her, she had already collided with LeCompte's vehicle and caused the vehicle to rollover. Sandra LeCompte suffered a fractured wrist and wore a cast for weeks.

Although recent statistics point to the incidence of DUIs decreasing, driver intoxication is the lead cause of car accidents in the United States. Further, nearly 40% of traffic fatalities can be attributed to drunk driving.

Often victims injured by negligent drunk drivers face medical bills, lost wages, physical pain and emotional distress. Although the injuries in this accident were not life threatening, both physical and emotional injuries from any accident may linger, creating future damages and costs.

For more information, or if you or a loved one has bee injured by a drunk driver, contact the Law Office of Frederick J. Sette. For more than 15 years we've been helping those injured by the wrongful conduct of others.

On August 30, the California Court of Appeals ruled that the lower court erred in throwing out a lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles based on negligence arising from the fatal Blue Line Metro accident. The metro train ran into a car, driven by Sara Tovar, crossing the tracks. Tovar died from her injuries.

According to testimony, Tovar failed to see the flashing lights or hear the train's bells as it approached. Experts testified that inadequate signage existed at the intersection. Charges were dismissed by the court against the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, but allowed to continue against the city. At issue - whether the city maintained a dangerous condition on public property.

When accidents occur on another's property, potential claims for negligence exist if the owner is aware, or shown have been aware of unreasonably dangerous conditions that contributed to or caused an accident. A dangerous condition is one that "creates a substantial risk of injury when such property or adjacent property is used with due care in a manner is which it is reasonably foreseeable that it will be used." Where municipalities or other public entities are involved, the analysis may be more complex, however public entities may still be found liable for injuries caused by a dangerous condition on public property.

For more information, or if you or a loved one has been injured as the result of a dangerous condition, contact the Law Office of Frederick J. Sette, dedicated to helping those injured by the negligence of others for more than 15 years.