A Metro bus driver was killed recently in a bus accident involving a tow truck in Los Angeles. According to the Metropolitan Transit Authority, the bus operator, a 35-year-old woman was killed in the accident that occurred when a bus crashed into a speeding tow truck.

Investigations into the accident have begun, but according to the Los Angeles Police Department, it seems that the tow truck was speeding at the time of the accident. The accident occurred just after five in the morning, when the tow truck which was being operated at excessive speeds ran a red light and then crashed head-on into the bus. The impact was tremendous, and the tow truck was sent careening into a store nearby, leading to injuries to an employee of the store. The employee was not seriously injured, and was treated at the scene. However, the store was completely destroyed.

Both the tow truck as well as the bus sustained severe damage in the accident, and the drivers of both of the vehicles had to be extricated using the Jaws of Life. The tow truck driver was also injured in the accident.

Running red lights or red light violations are a serious problem in California, and contribute to devastating accidents. Typically, when a vehicle runs a red light, it results in broad siding or T-bone accidents, which are side-impact accidents. In these accidents, the motorist that is running the red light is often driving at high speeds, or is driving the vehicle under the influence of alcohol. Therefore, these accidents are often high-impact collisions that end with multiple and catastrophic injuries.

There's no denying that Southern California with its extensive population of pedestrians and bicyclists has a severe a hit-and-run problem. The California Assembly recently had good news for Los Angeles bicycle accident lawyers and bicycling and pedestrian groups when it passed a bill that is clearly targeted at cracking down on such hit-and-run offenders. AB 184 was recently passed unanimously by the California Assembly, and has now been sent to the Senate.

Under the legislation, law enforcement officers are given more powers and extra tools to crack down on hit-and-run offenses. The statute of limitations for such offenses has been extended to three years from the date of the hit and run offense, or one year after officers identify a suspect, whichever is later.

Under the current law, motorists who have struck a pedestrian or bicyclist and simply fled the scene of the accident are home safe as long as they manage to avoid the statute of limitations. Not only that, the person could actually be free of all criminal liability, even if he is involved in another fatal or injurious hit-and-run accident. This bill however provides police officers a much wider time frame in which they can investigate these crimes, arrest suspects and initiate prosecution.

The Southern California region and Los Angeles in particular has a serious problem with hit-and-run accidents. In fact, Assemblyman Mike Gatto happens to be the representative of a region that has seen a number of such hit-and-run accidents recently. In fact, just one month after the bill was introduced a bicyclist was hit by a minivan, and seriously injured in the Assemblyman’s district. The bicyclist was dragged more than a quarter mile down the highway, resulting in serious leg injuries. Ultimately, his leg had to be amputated because of the injuries. The hit-and-run offender continues to be out there, posing a serious threat to bicyclist safety.

The California dog bite law is designed to keep the public safe and work as a deterrent for dog owners to keep control of their pets. Section 3342 of the California Civil Code offers detailed rules of liability in such cases where a dog harms someone. And because dogs can inflict such serious damage and are so prevalent throughout the state, having this statute in place is one way that the legislature tries to keep the public safe. The statute may work as a deterrent in some cases but so many people are bitten by dogs each year in Los Angeles and across the entire state that there is a high-likelihood that you or someone you know will, sooner or later, need a personal injury attorney who handles dog bite cases if you live in Southern California.

In a recent report by State Farm Insurance, California topped the list for most dog bites in the nation. Nationally, State Farm received 3, 670 dog bite claims and paid more than $108 million. California had 451 claims by the company and $17.1 was paid out as a result. Illinois, Texas and Ohio were the next on the list for most dog bite claims. Since this is only one company's data, clearly there were many more canine injury claims in the state. But these data are instructive. There are far too many dog attacks taking place in the state.

Additionally, State Farm only reports on what they paid. There is a good chance that many legitimate claims were denied. Even in the best-case scenario, getting an insurance company to pay on a legitimate claim may require the help of a skilled personal injury attorney. But in cases where the liable party will not accept responsibility, or the insurance company offers a low-ball settlement, or endlessly delays investigation or payment, this is when California's dog bite law is given teeth by an aggressive law firm.   

Every year, more than 4,000 pedestrians suffer fatal injuries in accidents across the country. Those numbers have stayed more or less consistent, even though the number of people being killed in traffic accidents across the country has been dropping over the past couple of years. A new study finds that older pedestrians involved in accidents are at a much high risk of being killed.

The study was based on an analysis of accident data between 2001 and 2010, and found that senior citizens above the age of 75 had an accident fatality risk that was more than double the fatality rate for pedestrians who were below 34 years of age.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which conducted the analysis, believes that the number of senior pedestrians killed in accidents could actually increase over the next few years, as the number of older pedestrians on our streets increases. That is likely to happen with an explosion in the population of seniors in the country. It is estimated that the senior population in the country will increase dramatically over the next couple of decades, leading not just to an increase in the number of seniors at the wheel, but also on the road.

But while Los Angeles pedestrian accident lawyers have found a lot of focus on reducing the number of accidents involving senior drivers, and introducing interventions to help reduce the accident risk of senior motorists, there does not seem to be that much focus on reducing the risk to senior pedestrians.

This is even though senior citizens have been confirmed to be at a much higher risk of senior injuries because of their physical state. Seniors who are injured, may take a much longer time to recover from their injuries, or may never completely recover at all. Severe injuries are also much more likely to leave seniors physically disabled.