A police officer was recently killed in Ramona, California, in a motorcycle accident. There is reason to believe the 17-year-old driver who caused the accident was texting and driving.
The crash happened on Wednesday around 2:30 p.m. The 33-year-old officer was leading an instructional ride, as required by law, with about 10 other motorcycle officers. The 190-mile training ride was the longest of the two-week exercise.
Drivers in California need to be aware of their surroundings and know that their driving behaviors have an impact on others around them. For example, if a driver gets behind the wheel after a night of drinking, every other car, motorcycle and pedestrian is immediately put in danger.
However, while drunk driving does get a lot of attention when it comes to risking the lives of others, sober drivers also need to be putting thought into their actions when behind the wheel. This means being on the lookout for motorcyclists and not making any sudden movements that would cause for them to slam on the brakes or attempt to maneuver out of the way. Truth be told, there may just not be enough time -- and for a motorcyclist -- any accident can end up being deadly.
There are plenty of drivers in the Los Angeles area who honestly believe they can drive while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Many times these drivers think they are not as intoxicated as they truly are. For others, they tend to think they have somehow mastered impaired driving and are good at it. However, the truth is that no matter what a driver may think, driving while drunk or high is dangerous and greatly increases the chances of getting into a car accident.
Recently, the dangers of impaired driving were highlighted on a national level when the bassist for the well-known rock band 3 Doors Down got into an accident. The driver in the other vehicle died. It is believed the bassist, 41-year-old Todd Harrell, was under the influence of alcohol and prescriptions at the time of the crash.
Even though dog owners are responsible for their pets to make sure the animals do not bite anyone, there are still steps that any California resident can take in order to prevent the likelihood of a bite.
The first thing to keep in mind is that when it comes to dog bites, specific breeds do not matter. Quite often people tend to worry about pit bulls or Rottweilers, but the truth is that all dogs -- even family-friendly Labradors and pugs -- can end up biting and causing serious damage.
According to a recent study, plenty of parents are putting their children and others directly in harm's way without even realizing it. This is because when driving, for parents, children tend to be the biggest distraction.
For the first time ever, the study focused in on how children can be distracting to their parents when driving. Whether it is fighting with another brother or sister in the car or asking for a dropped toy, it turns out children are 12 times more distracting to parents than talking on a cellphone while driving.
Drivers being too tired to be operating a motor vehicle, and not even realizing it, are something that is rather common in California and around the country. This is particularly troubling as the first step toward preventing accidents caused by drowsy drivers is for these drivers to realize not only how dangerous it is to drive tired, but when they are actually tired.
AAA conducted a survey looking at how frequently people drive when they are tired. In this survey, 10 percent admitted to driving tired in the past year. Another 27 percent admitting to being so tired while driving, in the past month, that they were having a hard time keeping their eyes open.
Motorcycle riding is popular among California residents age 50 and older. In fact, since 1990 this demographic of riders has more than doubled across the country. And while of course anyone who rides a motorcycle runs the risk of getting into an accident, it turns out those who are older are more likely to end up with serious injuries in the emergency room after a crash.
Researchers from Brown University looked at 1.5 million motorcycle accidents. From there it was discovered the hospitalization rate for older riders due to severe injuries is two and a half times the rate of younger riders. Younger riders are described as being in their 20s and 30s.
In June, Lindsay Lohan was driving on the Pacific Coast Highway when she slammed into a dump truck. She totaled the rented Porsche she was driving.
Lohan allegedly claimed that her assistant was driving (when, in fact, she was) and that her brakes gave out immediately before the accident. She now faces charges for giving false information, obstructing a police officer in the performance of his duty and reckless driving. However, these are all misdemeanor charges that, at most, will send her back to jail temporarily.
Lindsay Lohan is certainly not the first celebrity to be charged with reckless driving this year. Justin Bieber was stopped by police in July for driving faster than 65 mph and weaving in and out of traffic. Fortunately for Bieber, he was stopped before he caused an accident.
In late September, the Governor of California, Jerry Brown, signed into law a piece of legislation that will undoubtedly have an impact on the way we drive - or don't drive.
Yes, folks, the driverless car is here.
Google, along with car companies, has been working to perfect the autonomous car for many years, and Brown has now paved the path for them to legally test their cars on California roads. (Note the "legal" language -- Google has been driving its cars on California roads for more than two years, but only now are they considered legal.) "Today, we're looking at science fiction becoming tomorrow's reality," is how Governor Brown put this remarkable accomplishment. California is the second state -- after Nevada - to allow autonomous car testing. Google expects that autonomous cars will be on the market in less than a decade.
Yet, as we venture into an era of science-fiction-as-reality, we must also wonder: How safe are these cars? And if an accident does occur, who -- or what -- will be liable?
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued regulations that standardize the information event data recorders (EDR), or so-called "black boxes," must record in motor vehicles in the event of an accident.
NHTSA is also working towards requiring EDRs in all new vehicles, but the regulation issued in September only details the type of information that must be recorded.
EDRs are similar to the "black boxes" that commercial airliners have been required to install for decades. The EDRs continually monitors various types of data from the vehicle, such as the engine rpm, throttle position and air-bag condition.
In the event of a car crash, the vehicles EDR records the last few seconds of data. Different manufacturers systems currently record different types of data.
