Rear-End Collisions & California Vehicle Code 22350

In most Oakland car accidents, a CHP officer or police officer will make an accident report. The report will identify the drivers, the vehicles and the causes of the accident. The reports also refer to California Vehicle Code section(s) broken by the party or parties responsible for the car accident.

There are some cases where the driver liable for a car accident has run a red light, or where he or she has made an illegal turn in an intersection. In those car accidents, the reporting officer can simply refer to the section which makes it illegal to run a red light, or make an illegal turn. But what does the reporting officer do when there is no clear-cut rule that was broken and one of the drivers was just driving dangerously, causing a car accident? One Vehicle Code section they can turn to is 22350. That section provides:

No person shall drive a vehicle upon a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable or prudent having due regard for weather, visibility, the traffic on, and the surface and width of, the highway, and in no event at a speed which endangers the safety of persons or property.

This is most often seen in the case of a rear-end car accident like those that happen every day on highway 880 or highway 580 in Oakland. Often the person at fault for the car accident was not driving over the speed limit, but was just driving too fast for the prevailing conditions. In such a case, party causing the rear-end collision can be said to have been driving without due regard for the traffic on the road.



Pete Clancy is a personal injury lawyer specializing in helping people in Oakland injured in car accidents, especially rear-end accidents. Pete can be reached by phone (925-835-7500) or through his website.