Los Angeles Personal Injury Law Blog

The federal government would like automakers to limit drivers' ability to use built-in vehicle technologies like Sync or OnStar that allow cellphone use and texting while the car is in motion. Transportation secretary Ray LaHood recently proposed voluntary steps that would create safety standards for the entertainment, communication and navigation devices that are now ubiquitous in new cars.

The proposed safety standards are limited to electronic devices that are not necessary to safely operate the vehicle and would apply to devices that cause undue distraction by taking the driver's eyes off the road or occupying a driver's hands for more than a brief moment.

When there has been an airplane crash, the aircraft's black box is instrumental in investigating the event and understanding why the accident happened. With this in mind, regulators are considering whether the same type of technology would be helpful in understanding how car accidents occur.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is considering whether or not to require automobile manufacturers to include black boxes, also known as event data recorders (EDRs), in new vehicles. If this technology is installed into automobiles, it will create a record of an accident that will allow law enforcement to piece together how an accident happened and who was at fault.

EDR technology has been installed in cars with airbags since 2006, but the NHTSA proposal would require manufacturers to use more sophisticated systems in their products in order to collect more data. According to the National Research Council, the more robust versions of this evolving technology would be particularly helpful in cases where there is a malfunction in the electronics system of an automobile.

To prevent injuries while crossing the street or railroad tracks, we are taught as youngster to stop and look both ways before crossing the road or tracks. What is often overlooked is the notion of listening for potential dangers, including warning sirens and whistles. And, it is this not listening that has led to a rise in injuries for pedestrians who wear headphones.

In January 2012, a new study published in the journal Injury Prevention reported that accidents involving pedestrians wearing headphones have tripled in less than a decade. Looking at numerous sources, researchers found that there were 116 fatal or serious-injury accidents involving pedestrians wearing headphones (accidents involving cell phones were excluded) in the United States from 2004 to 2011.

The ongoing bureaucratic process to reform federal trucking safety regulations features plenty of detailed scientific arguments about the risks caused by truck driver fatigue, including deadly truck accidents. The primary regulatory response to this problem is the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSA) proposed changes to the Hours-of-Service (HOS) rule.

Proposed changes to the HOS rule would create marginally tighter restrictions on how many hours drivers can spend behind the wheel, how much time they must spend off duty and other factors that influence whether commercial driver's license holders become overtired. Not surprisingly, some trucking industry groups have taken a hard stand against overdue safety measures that could affect their profits.