Did you know that more than 13,000 people in Los Angeles ride to work using their bicycles? And these people are likely to be injured in bicycle accidents or be harassed verbally or physically in one of the country’s most dangerous and busiest streets and highways?

Now the travails of Los Angeles bicyclists along LA streets are over.

The City Council has decided to put a stop to the harassment by approving an ordinance that penalizes motorists who pester bicyclists, verbally or physically. The groundbreaking law also allows harassed victims to file civil charges against an erring motorist, even ahead of the criminal charges that the city may file.

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Like a scene straight from a Hollywood action flick, an elderly man was trapped inside his damaged car after he ran a red light, got hit by another vehicle, and ended up in the tracks of an oncoming train. If not for efforts of some concerned people, the injured motorist would have died from fatal injuries caused by this catastrophic accident.

Fortunately, the victim was saved just in time as the train smashed the stalled vehicle on its tracks.

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The truck driver’s complete disregard of vehicle safety in La Canada’s tragic big rig accident in April 2009 can be seen as a major factor in this fatal accident that led to the death of a man and his daughter and caused injuries to twelve others.

In the truck driver’s murder trial held recently, the grieving mother and widow appeared before the court and blamed the driver for ignoring alleged “safety issues” that resulted in him losing control of the big rig and crashing onto unsuspecting motorists and other people.

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A 17-year-old teenager suffered fatal injuries Thursday night after the ATV she was riding crashed into another vehicle on Rice Road, east of Modesto, the California Highway Patrol said.

Kaitlynn Louis of Oakdale was driving the ATV on a canal bank parallel to McGee Avenue when she entered Rice Road and was hit by 2002 Chevrolet at about 7:15 p.m.

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Elderly drivers may not be as reckless as teen drivers nor are they more likely to drink and drive than other age groups but they still have a high risk of getting killed in a car accident. In 2009, as many as 3,981 people aged 70 years and older died in motor vehicle crashes. So what are the factors involved in elderly car crashes?

Several studies show that older and elderly drivers are extremely vulnerable to motor vehicle accidents because of their age. Their declining reflexes, flexibility, visual acuity, and motor skills make it either difficult for them to see the road hazards or even if they do see another vehicle, they may misjudge the distance or fail to react in a timely manner to it. What’s more, when they do get involved in a crash, they are more likely to get severely hurt, or even killed because of their physical fragility.

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New child seat guidelines have been adopted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to bear with the most modern research and innovations on child safety on vehicles. The guidelines, released Monday, recommended parents and caregivers to hold children in each restraint type as long as they fit in before using the next type of seat.

The updated guidelines are in compliant with the recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics that suggest keeping children in rear-facing restraints up to two yrs. old or until they already attained the maximum weight or height allowed by the manufacturer of the safety seat. Parents need not have to rush their children’s transition to the next restraint type.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood also exclaimed, “Safety is our highest priority.” “The ‘best’ car seat is the one that fits your child, fits your vehicle and one you will use every time your child is in the car,” he further said.

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Actress Amy Locane, who had a role in the TV Hit Melrose Place and co-starred with Johnny Depp in the movie Cry-Baby at the height of her career, is sinking fast since an alcohol-related fatal crash in New Jersey last June 2010.

Locane, a 38-year old mother of 2 girls was indicted by a grand jury on charges of aggravated manslaughter and assault by automobile after a collision that left a the driver of another car seriously injured and a passenger dead. Also, even before the fatal crash, she has allegedly rear-ended a car miles away from the accident.

She was arrested for DUI and according to the police, her speech was slurred and her eyes were glassy. She admitted to the officers that she had several glasses of wine before she drove her 2007 Chevy Tahoe. Locane crashed her SUV into a 2010 Mercury Milan as it was turning into a driveway, killing Helene Seeman and critically injuring her husband, Fred Seeman.

Her lawyer however, feels that the charges against Locane are misplaced and believes that she will be acquitted. He claims that Locane was being chased at high speeds by a woman which led to the fatal accident.

Although the former soap actress is free after a $50,000 bail posted by her husband, if convicted of the charges against her, she may be sentenced up to a maximum of 30 years in prison.

Alcohol-impaired driving is one of the leading causes of motor vehicle accidents. Whether drunk on wine or beer or hard liquor, drivers with a high level of blood alcohol content (at or above 0.15 percent) have a very high risk of being involved in a police-reported crash or dying in a crash.

Alcohol is basically an anti-depressant so it slows down the function of the central nervous system which can diminish a person’s perceptions, and affect his emotions, movement, vision, and hearing. The probability of a fatal crash increases significantly after 0.05 percent BAC and climbs more rapidly after 0.08 percent.

Because of the dangers of alcohol-impaired driving, all 50 US states as well as the district of Columbia have imposed Driving under the Influence (DUI) laws that make it a crime to drive with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 percent. Violation of these laws not only give rise to a DUI charges – in the event that a drunk driver causes an accident which resulted to injury or death, corresponding criminal and civil lawsuits may also be filed by the victims.

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