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Montclair’s hillside roads are not built for distraction. Winding two-lane streets, morning fog that drops visibility in minutes, a freeway on-ramp feeding directly into the village, residential streets with no sidewalks: these are not ordinary urban driving conditions. When accidents happen here, they tend to be serious.
Monica Burneikis handles personal injury cases for Montclair residents from her downtown Oakland office at 66 Franklin Street, part of the Oakland personal injury practice serving the hills and the flatlands alike. Call any time at (510) 328-3238 for a free case evaluation.
Montclair residents are not looking for the loudest TV advertisement. They are looking for a lawyer who actually knows what happened and can prove it.
Monica Burneikis takes cases personally. She does not hand files to paralegals and circle back for depositions. When you hire Burneikis Law, you work directly with Monica from your first call through resolution. That is not a pitch. It is the reality of a solo practice where every case matters to the attorney handling it.
The hillside conditions in Montclair also create injury cases that require specific local knowledge. Fog behavior on Thornhill Drive. The merge geometry at the Mountain Boulevard and Highway 13 interchange. School drop-off congestion in front of Montclair Elementary at 1757 Mountain Boulevard. The blind curves on Snake Road and Colton Boulevard that catch out-of-neighborhood drivers unprepared. These are not abstractions in a legal brief. They are conditions Monica understands because this is the community the firm serves.
Burneikis Law has recovered more than $40 million for injured clients, earned recognition as a top personal injury firm by Best of Oakland Magazine (2023) and Best of Alameda Magazine (2023), and is BBB accredited. The firm serves clients in English, Spanish, and ASL.
Mountain Boulevard and Moraga Avenue are the two main arteries through Montclair, and neither one is forgiving. Moraga curves through the valley. Mountain Boulevard descends toward Highway 13 with a grade that punishes distracted or speeding drivers. Thornhill Drive, Colton Boulevard, and Snake Road add blind curves and steep pitches that catch drivers unfamiliar with the terrain.
Fog makes all of it worse. Summer and fall mornings in the Oakland Hills routinely cut visibility on these roads. A driver who fails to slow down in fog on a winding hillside road is a negligent driver. These cases are worth pursuing, and they require someone who understands how these conditions actually play out.
The Highway 13 corridor at the Mountain Boulevard interchange is one of the most documented accident-prone segments in the Montclair area. A fatal pedestrian crash on Highway 13 near Park Boulevard closed the freeway in July 2023. The pedestrian bridge over Highway 13 in Montclair was demolished that same year. Southbound merge traffic at the I-580 junction backs up, and drivers exiting at Mountain Boulevard encounter congestion and tight ramp geometry at highway speeds. These are high-speed collision scenarios. Injuries are often severe.
Montclair Village draws foot traffic from across the neighborhood. The commercial district along Mountain Boulevard near Thornhill Drive concentrates pedestrians on a road that doubles as the primary through-route for hillside residents. Montclair Elementary at 1757 Mountain Boulevard adds concentrated pedestrian crossings during school drop-off and pick-up. Drivers who ignore school zone speed limits on a busy arterial create real liability. The Montclair Branch Library at Mountain Boulevard near Thornhill also generates pedestrian activity that drivers heading for the freeway often underestimate.
The Montclair Railroad Trail runs 3.1 miles from Montclair Village to Shepherd Canyon Park, crossing roads at grade along its route. The southern boundary with Joaquin Miller Park draws cyclists onto roads shared with vehicle traffic. When trail users cross roads without adequate sight lines or signage, drivers and riders both face elevated risk. Monica handles cyclist injury cases throughout Oakland, including the park-adjacent corridors where these collisions are most common.
Montclair borders the East Bay Regional Parks system, and the wildlife corridor runs through the neighborhood year-round. Deer cross Thornhill Drive. Coyotes have been documented on residential streets. The Yggdrasil Urban Wildlife Rescue Center operates in the Oakland Hills specifically because wildlife-vehicle encounters are frequent here. When a driver swerves to avoid an animal and strikes another vehicle or structure, the fault analysis turns on speed, road conditions, and driver response. These cases require careful reconstruction. Monica has handled them.
Yes. Animal-avoidance accidents are personal injury claims when another driver’s actions contributed to the collision, or when road conditions or signage failures played a role. Even single-vehicle accidents can involve third-party liability. The key questions are speed, road familiarity, and whether the driver took reasonable action. These cases require reconstruction, and Monica has handled them in Oakland Hills terrain specifically.
The on-ramp from Mountain Boulevard onto Highway 13 has documented congestion and tight merge geometry. If a driver rear-ended you in stop-and-go traffic there, the rear driver is presumptively at fault under California law. You can file a claim against their insurance, and if the injuries are serious, pursue a personal injury lawsuit. Call for a free evaluation: Monica will tell you what your case is actually worth, not what sounds good.
California’s statute of limitations for personal injury is two years from the date of injury. For claims against a government entity (such as a city or school district, if road design or school zone maintenance contributed), the deadline is much shorter: six months to file an administrative claim. Do not wait. The sooner you contact an attorney, the more evidence is preserved. Call (510) 328-3238.
No. Monica takes calls 24/7 and handles consultations remotely when you cannot come in. The downtown Oakland office at 66 Franklin Street is 12 to 15 minutes from Montclair Village via Highway 13, and Monica has handled cases throughout the Oakland Hills for years. Location is not the constraint. Knowing the roads, the courts, and the insurance dynamics is what matters, and Monica knows all three.
From Montclair Village, take Mountain Boulevard south toward Highway 13. Merge onto the Warren Freeway southbound and follow Highway 13 as it transitions to I-580 west toward downtown Oakland. Take the 18th Street or Harrison Street exit and head toward the waterfront district. Burneikis Law is at 66 Franklin Street, 3rd Floor, Oakland, CA 94607.
The drive from Montclair Village runs 12 to 15 minutes under normal traffic conditions. If you are on the lower end of Montclair, Park Boulevard west through the Dimond District is an alternative surface route, about 20 to 25 minutes without freeway access.
Parking is available near the Franklin Street office. If you cannot come in, Monica is available by phone at (510) 328-3238 and conducts consultations remotely.
Montclair occupies the western slope of the Oakland Hills along the valley formed by the Hayward Fault, zip code 94611. The neighborhood sits at the top of Highway 13 (the Warren Freeway), accessed primarily via Mountain Boulevard and Moraga Avenue. Its center is Montclair Village, a compact commercial district with roughly 100 retailers, restaurants, and services, including the historic Montclair Branch Library (opened 1930) and a distinctive storybook firehouse adjacent to the Warren Freeway.
Residential streets climb steeply above the village in every direction. The housing stock spans early Craftsman and Brown Shingle homes on the lower hillside streets, mid-century modern and ranch-style construction from the 1950s through 1980s, and post-1991 rebuilds on the northwest edge where the Oakland Hills firestorm destroyed thousands of homes. The neighborhood borders Joaquin Miller Park to the south (500-plus acres of redwood and eucalyptus forest) and connects to the East Bay Regional Parks system at the eastern edge via Shepherd Canyon.
This geography is what makes Montclair scenic. It is also what makes its roads physically demanding for drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists.
Contact Us
Burneikis Law serves personal injury clients throughout the Oakland Hills and surrounding neighborhoods. If you are in an adjacent area, we handle cases there too:
If you were injured in an accident in Montclair, on Highway 13, or anywhere in the Oakland Hills, Burneikis Law is ready to talk. Monica Burneikis handles every case personally. There is no fee unless we recover.
Call (510) 328-3238, available 24/7.
Serving Montclair and the surrounding Oakland neighborhoods.
FREE Case EvaluationHow To Reach Us:
Address:
66 Franklin Street
3rd Floor
Oakland, California 94607
Phone Number:
(510) 328-3238
Hours:
24 Hours a Day
