Biking LA Blog
October 20, 2014
[…] This is the 73rd bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 15th in Orange County; that compares to 12 in the county for all of last year. And it’s at least the eighth fatal bike collision in Newport Beach in just the last five years. […]
Chrysler Recalls More Than 900K Vehicles
AP NEWS
October 16, 2014
Nearly 907,000 Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep SUVs and cars are being recalled for alternators that can fail and heated power mirror wiring that can short and cause minor fires.
The recalls, posted Thursday by U.S. safety regulators, push the total number of recalls so far this year to over 500, totaling more than 51 million vehicles. That’s a full-year record on both counts, due mainly to massive General Motors recalls of more than 30 million vehicles. […]
New York Times October 12, 2014
[…]
Federal highway officials had long insisted that guardrails throughout the state were safe. But some guardrail heads had apparently malfunctioned, in essence turning the rails into spears when cars hit them and injuring people instead of cushioning the blow, Missouri officials said. […]
Because of its safety concerns, Missouri banned further installation of the rail heads on Sept. 24. It joined Nevada, which prohibited further purchases in January, and was followed six days later by Massachusetts. Lawsuits say the guardrails were to blame for five deaths, and many more injuries, in at least 14 accidents nationwide.[…]
Deaths linked to GM ignition-switch defect rise to 27
Reuters October 13, 2014
[…]
Since it began accepting claims Aug. 1, the program has received a total of 1,371 claims for deaths and injuries, according to the report by the office of Kenneth Feinberg, who GM has tapped to run the program. The report listed all of the claims received and approved as of Friday.GM has faced criticism this year for waiting 11 years to begin recalling millions of cars with ignition-switch problems that were linked to fatalities. […]
Bicycle rider was OK, bike not so much.
Car drivers and your passengers, look before you open your doors! This kind of accident can be very serious and even fatal.
check out their calender of events – it’s middle of May but not too late to get in on the action:
May 16: Bike to Work Day
May 17: San Diego River Bike Ride
May 21: Ride of Silence – This yearly ride is honored internationally to remember bicycle riders who have been killed or injured while riding on public roads. Learn about the ride of silence and find out where you can join the ride.
Read the full transportation report from the US Census Bureau.
From 1990 to 2012, the number of bicycle commuters nearly doubled in the 70 largest cities, according to data collected by the League of American Bicyclists. Today, Americans make more than four billion trips by bike each year. [1]
But the rise in urban bicycle commuting has been evidencing some alarming urban bicycle verses car safety issues. For instance a bike rider is in grave danger from a car door being swung out open in front of their path. Often a bike lane is situated right next to the curb where cars cross through the bike lane and then park swinging the car doors open into an oncoming bicycle rider’s path. Passengers and drivers in an automobile have the duty and responsibility to only open a car door when it is safe. For a bicycle rider, getting car doored is extremely dangerous and often deadly. A bicycle rider may be trapped in busy traffic and have no time and no place to go to avoid a car door.
While in Chicago, in a state that apparently tracks dooring as a subset of bike crash type, and have 3 years recent data, “In Chicago, one in five bike crashes were caused by a dooring incident.” [3]
If you have ever pedaled in a busy urban environment, even in well marked bike lanes, chances are you might have wished to have a car horn to get a car drivers attention when you are in a bad position and feel like the car is coming for you and for some reason not seeing you. “Loud Bicycle Horn” to the rescue for $95. It is what it says, a loud bicycle horn, not a wimpy bell but loud enough to project and be heard in the quietest car interior. [4] The inventor commented that car drivers seem to be concerned about not hurting their car more than hitting a human on a bike. This bike horn sounds like a car horn and should get a car drivers attention, and hopefully get you out of danger.
While Seesense, aims to help make a bicycle rider more visible especially from the side, and also flashes light patterns like a police car lights to alert when the bicyclist is swerving, stopping or turning. The idea behind Seesense has to do with also helping cyclists avoid getting hit from the side in dark conditions when the typical bike lights might be very bright but are projecting on the road ahead, the see sense lights help the side on visibility and hopefully protect bike riders from side on collisions. [5]
And if you’ve ever felt like you need a protective bubble around you, even when riding in a well marked bike lane, there’s the x fire ad hoc bike lane laser lights. The X Fire has two laser lights that project a three foot line creating a bike lane around you or clearly defining your bubble. As many states enforce giving safe room to pass a bicycle rider, these are an excellent reminder of a safe zone that a bicycle rider needs and the law enforces in many states, like Colorado. [6]
These gadgets all focus on accident prevention, helping to make your self more seen and heard. But the inflatable bike helmet attempts to work more like a car airbag, inflating on impact. One advantage that some bike safety experts are skeptical of, is the design of this inflatable helmet which won’t give you helmet hair as it sits when on around your neck and is one of the selling points that the company promotes. [7]
There’s many more neat items featured in the New York Times article on bike gadgets http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/well/2014/03/10/gadgets-to-boost-bike-safety/ Bike locks you can unlock from your mobile phone via an app. Smart back bike tires that keep all kinds of data for you like miles climbed, pedals per minute averages, calories burned. But, as a bicycle accident attorney, anything to keep a cyclist from getting seriously injured in a car accident is a great idea and worth trying. Bike League sponsored kid safe routes to school “bike trains” and even The X Fire ad hoc bike lanes are great.
NY TIMES Bike Gadget Article – has many more bike gadgets featured http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/well/2014/03/10/gadgets-to-boost-bike-safety/
2. Car Doored http://www.wnyc.org/story/285015-data-from-only-state-that-tracks-dooring-show-its-big-problem/
3. NYC Bicycle v Car Doored http://www.wnyc.org/story/284818-nyc-taxis-get-friendlier-for-bikes-with-anti-dooring-decals-and-a-taxi-tv-video/
4. Loud Bicycle Horn http://www.loudbicycle.com/
5. Innovative Bicycle Lighting – See Sense http://www.seesense.cc/#sthash.yVvSVIAL.VOWgJ2vA.dpbs
6. Bike Light Virtual Bike Lane – The X Fire http://thexfire.com/products-page/lighting-system/bike-lane-safety-light
7. Inflatable Bike Helmet http://www.hovding.se/
Part of what makes distracted driving so dangerous, is that the driver overreacts to a perceived threat on the road, which suddenly and unexpectedly comes into view because the driver was distracted. As an example, a driver may look up from his cell phone and see an obstacle that is not on the road but near the road and yank the steering wheel sharply to avoid this perceived threat and thereby lose control of his vehicle and roll the car or crash into a tree.
Some safety devices designed to help the driver regain control of their car or truck have proved worthwhile in price and effort, and these include anti-lock brakes and electronic stability control. Keep in mind that these two devices are useful when a driver has already somehow gotten into a situation where he or she is not in control of their vehicle. This is the end result of distracted driving, and these two devices and software may help the driver regain control of his vehicle or mitigate the dangerous or fatal result.
Electronic stability control is a program in a car’s computer which detects when the car is skidding, and selectively applies the brakes to certain wheels to help a driver go in the direction they need to go. According to both the US NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, one third of all fatal accidents could be prevented using ESC. [1]
Texting while driving, although a surprisingly common practice, especially among adult drivers (more so than teenage drivers), is illegal in 41 US states. In 37 states this violation is a primary offense, meaning that you can get stopped by the police, ticketed and fined for this offense alone. In the other 4 states, Nebraska, Iowa, Florida, and Ohio, you can be fined for texting while driving only if you are first pulled over for another infraction. [2]
One of the key cell phone distractions, noted by both teenagers and adults, in the car is the beep or chime indicating that they have a new text, email, or phone call. Many people find it hard to ignore so they attempt to quickly see who it is that contacted them. Even though this may take a driver’s eyes off the road for only a second, this is dangerous. But the greater danger comes when the driver feels he or she must see what their friend or business contact wrote, which can then distract the driver for a longer period of time.
A phone app, urTXT, was developed by a teenage race car driver, Zach Veach, to help combat this. The app turns on with the click of one button and is designed to be turned on by the driver when entering the car. urTXT will silence the distracting beeps, and send a message to the sender that the recipient is driving and cannot or will not answer until he or she finishes driving. [3] Of course, since this app does not automatically turn on when driving, it is up to the driver’s good sense and memory to engage it before entering the car.
Responsible parents, who want to be good role models for their kids, may choose another piece of technological equipment designed to make answering or viewing a text message impossible or extremely impractical while driving their car. The ORIGOSafe ignition interlock system can be installed in a car for $400 per vehicle, and operates by preventing the driver from holding a phone. It is a docking system which will charge the phone while driving, allows the driver to use Bluetooth to receive calls, but it will sound an alarm if the phone is removed from the dock while the car is running.
There is a commercial version of this device for fleets and companies from the same manufacturer. This helps ensure that a company does not need to worry about their drivers becoming distracted by texting or using their hands to control their phone. If the phone is removed from the docking station, an alarm will sound and the vehicle will not start until the phone is reauthorized by an Administrator. There are also workarounds in place if the vehicle is taken to be serviced, left with a valet or parking lot attendant, leant out, or if the phone is stolen. [4]
New York state troopers have been given a simpler form of technology to enforce that state’s laws against texting and driving; big unmarked SUVs which enable an officer to peer down into the driver’s lap to see if they are using a hand held device. This is in part due to the fact that before texting and driving laws, drivers would hold a phone up on the wheel to keep their eyes on the road (or so they thought). Now many drivers looking to skirt the law hold phones down in their laps. [5]
These devices, software and methods, while good and innovative, are unnecessary if drivers just use common sense and good safety practices while driving, and realize that most accidents happen for reasons related to driver error. No technology will replace the safety protections of a careful, alert and attentive driver. Drivers think that if they texted and drove once and nothing bad happened, they can do it again. But because we don’t know what lies around any corner, those actions are just ticking time bombs.
Cell Phone / Texting Laws By USA State
San Diego motorcycle accident lawyer, Dean Goetz, has fought aggressively on behalf of injured bikers for three decades and helped them to obtain large settlements and rebuild their lives.
What Should You Do Right After a Motorcycle Crash in San Diego?
The longer you delay getting legal insight into your crash, the more challenging it may be to collect compensation and obtain justice. For instance:
When you work with Dean Goetz, you get direct access to him — your case will not be passed along to a secretary or a paralegal. Connect with Attorney Goetz now by calling 858-481-8844 for a free consultation. Learn about your rights and maximize your recovery.
