Goldberg Injury Lawyers Supports Ryan’s Law to Fight Reckless Driving
Barry P. Goldberg of Goldberg Injury Lawyers in Woodland Hills is always looking for ways to make our community and neighborhoods safer and more desirable. In fact, as a lifelong resident of the West San Fernando Valley Mr. Goldberg has seen massive changes from a suburban, semi-rural paradise into a modern urban setting—with all its benefits and problems. One of the problems plaguing our community is reckless driving and out of control accidents. Anyone with a teen driver is absolutely mortified to know that there is near chaos on our roadways.
Enter Senator Henry Stern (now running for County Supervisor). Although Senator Stern is best known as a champion of our environment, he has taken up the cause of reckless driving. In 2020, he experienced the tragedy of reckless driving firsthand when Ryan Koeppel. A 16-year-old was killed on Vanowen Avenue coming home from a night out with friends. The driver that killed him was driving 80 miles per hour in a residential neighborhood. In that case, the offender walked away with practically no penalty.
Senator Stern has introduced Senate Bill 1472, Ryan’s Law. It will expand the definition of “vehicular manslaughter” to include a death that occurs while the driver is speeding over 100 mph, or otherwise driving recklessly. The bill also serves to address repeat offenders by increasing penalties for dangerous driving. These penalties include imprisonment, vehicle impoundment, driver’s license revocation, and significant monetary fines.
At our law office we handle the personal injury consequences of some of these incredibly careless individuals. Tragically, these reckless drivers rarely have sufficient liability insurance or do not have insurance at all. In California, there are an estimated 2 million drivers with out insurance and a whopping majority of drivers that carry the state’s outdated minimum of 15/30/5. (That amount is the lowest in all the 50 states and has not been adjusted for the cost of living since its inception in 1974!) Therefore, most significant accidents are either “uninsured” or grossly “underinsured.” We beg our friends and clients to protect themselves the best they can by buying more UM coverage than the minimums. (You can always call our office to discuss how much coverage makes sense for you and your family.
Our law firm also supports the latest efforts to raise the state’s minimum liability coverage!
We applaud Senator Stern and his efforts to make our corner of Los Angeles the safest and most desirable place to live in the country. He represents the same area where most of our clients reside. Which include Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Hidden Hills, Malibu, Moorpark, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, Canoga Park, Chatsworth, Encino, Porter Ranch, Reseda, Lake Balboa, Tarzana, West Hills, Winnetka and our home office area of Woodland Hills.
