The contractor in charge of a construction site in Milpitas, California that was the center of a tragic trench collapse has had his license suspended. The Contractors’ State License Board has held that US Sino Investments Inc. failed to comply with state workers’ compensation insurance laws. In 2008, the contractor had allegedly filed paperwork claiming that it did not have any employees.

Over last weekend, a 39-year-old carpenter working for US Sino Investments was killed in a trench collapse at the site when a retaining wall collapsed on him. According to reports, at the time of the accident, the carpenter was working near an unsupported 13-foot retaining wall. The wall suddenly collapsed on him, effectively burying him under a wall of dirt.

Not surprisingly to Los Angeles construction accident lawyers, rescuers rushed to the scene, but were unable to reach the worker in time. He succumbed to his injuries. Rescuers could not even reach the worker's body, because the area was deemed unstable. Retrieving the body was a challenge, and emergency personnel had to draw up a safety plan to be able to retrieve the body safely without endangering any rescue personnel.

Just a few days before this construction accident, authorities had come down on the company for failure to obtain a state permit before digging a 30-foot deep trench. Under California laws, contractors who want to dig a trench that is 5 feet or deeper, must obtain a special license.

In fact, three days before the accident, city officials had inspected the property, and had slapped the site with a stop–work notice. The contractor was ordered to immediately cease work on the site. The inspector was especially concerned because of the rainy conditions, and because the foundation did not have shoring in place to prevent a collapse. The contractor ignored the stop-work notice. Barely 3 days later, the carpenter was killed.

Every Los Angeles car accident lawyer is aware of the fact that teenage motorists who are traveling with teen passengers in their car are at a high risk of accidents. Two new studies confirm this.

The 2 separate studies which were conducted by researchers at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and State Farm Insurance finds that teenage motorists driving with teenage passengers were more likely to be distracted in the seconds before the crash, compared to teenagers driving alone.

The first study included a total of 198 teenage motorists. The researchers found that teen motorists who were more likely to drive with multiple teen passengers in the vehicle identified themselves as ‘thrill seekers.’ These motorists also perceived their own parents as being less able to set standards, or monitor their children's activities. These teenage drivers were also found to have a poor perception of driving risks in general.

In the 2nd study, researchers analyzed a nationally representative sample of about 677 motorists. These drivers had been involved in serious automobile accidents. The researchers compared the risks of driver distraction and risk-taking behaviors just before an accident.

Among the teenagers who admitted that they were distracted just before the accident, 71% of male drivers and 47% of female drivers admitted that the distractions were directly related to the actions of the passengers.

Male teenage motorists were found to be 6 times more likely to perform an illegal driving maneuver just before an accident. These drivers were also found to be twice as likely to drive aggressively just before an accident, compared to teenage male motorists driving alone. This indicates that a male teenage motorist with teenage passengers has the highest accident risks.