Each year, the holiday season brings excitement about seeing family, eating delicious meals, and even opening a few presents. For some, the season marks a series of events complete... Read More
Carpool lanes are an essential part of the Bay Area’s transportation infrastructure, designed to encourage carpooling, reduce traffic congestion, and improve air quality. As the population continues to grow... Read More
When an accident occurs in California, whether an automobile accident or an accident such as a slip and fall on someone else’s property, the way that injuries are almost... Read More
It is hard to think of any public safety issue that has received more attention over the last few years than the use of smartphones while driving... Read More
The latest annual report on motor vehicle collisions from the California Highway Patrol has a ton of information about what’s happening on California roads and highways, with extensive datasets... Read More
If you’ve recently traveled along I-80 in the East Bay, you may have noticed new electronic signage and metering lights. Caltrans is currently putting the finishing touches on the... Read More
Good news out of Sacramento: S.B. 192, Senator Liu’s disastrous law mandating helmets and reflective gear for bicyclists, was gutted thanks to strong backlash from bicycle advocates across the... Read More
For decades, California regions built freeways to enable the growth of new suburbs farther and farther afield. In response to the negative environmental effects of suburban sprawl, California enacted... Read More
During the height of California’s highway boom from the 1950s through the 1970s, Caltrans bulldozed through hundreds of neighborhoods to construct freeways. The economic and environmental toll on these... Read More
Oakland recently hosted Oaklavia, an open streets event that invites people to walk, bike, dance, play, and socialize in the streets. It’s a terrific, if underappreciated event... Read More
Last Friday, Governor Brown vetoed SB 1151, a bill that would have increased traffic fines in school zones and used these funds for active transportation investments. The bill had... Read More
By now you’ve probably already heard that the Three Feet for Safety Act went into effect on Tuesday. The bill, which was finally signed by Governor Brown last year,... Read More
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: street safety is about equity. Streets designed for speeding cars are inherently designed dangerously, leaving people who do not drive... Read More
A key challenge in planning, funding, and implementing bicycle and pedestrian projects is the lack of good data to guide policymaking. As Janie Nham notes on the NRDC Switchboard,... Read More
It happens more than it should. Someone (here we will call her Ms. H.) invites some friends, maybe a lot of friends and maybe their friends as well, to... Read More
Telegraph Avenue is one of Oakland’s key transportation corridors, linking Downtown Oakland with Downtown Berkeley. It serves thousands of transit riders, drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians every day, and also... Read More
Recently we discussed the ongoing battle between California cities and Caltrans over street design, most notably cycle tracks. As it turns out, Caltrans just announced its official endorsement of... Read More
As cities across California seek to build safer, healthier, greener “complete streets,” many have come into conflict with Caltrans over what constitutes an acceptable (and legally defensible) design. This... Read More
Assume the following factual scenario: a serious car accident occurs, injuring the plaintiff. Just after the accident, the insured defendant called her husband and discussed, in detail, the now... Read More
Although the widely reported accident took place almost a year ago, the San Francisco cyclist who collided with 71-year-old Sutchi Hui on March 29, 2012 has recently been order... Read More
A California Senate bill proposing restrictions on motorcycle lane splitting was placed on hold this week pending a safety study currently being conducted by UC-Berkeley. The bill, which would... Read More
In a move that’s sure to raise privacy concerns and spark paranoia among Bay Area residents, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission is exploring the idea of implementing a mileage based... Read More
In addition to having one of the highest traffic fatality rates of any Bay Area county, Sonoma County has also been the site of several recent cycling tragedies. Following... Read More
Beginning next year, texting while driving will be legal in California…as long as you keep your hands off the phone. On Friday, July 13th, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a... Read More
Much has already been written about the cuts to pedestrian related projects in the new Federal Transportation Bill. Fortunately, there are still people out there actively campaigning for pedestrian... Read More
SideCar, a new San Francisco-based company, is helping encourage ride shares with a new app that matches drivers with nearby passengers in need of a ride. The app works... Read More
Starting next week, a new pilot program will allow riders to bring bikes on the BART all day on Friday’s during the month of August. The normal blackout times... Read More
Yesterday Moreno Valley, California police passed out flyers promoting pedestrian safety in Riverside County. According to the Press-Enterprise, a pedestrian is injured or killed in California every hour, and... Read More
By a margin of 37-0, the California State Senate voted to approve a bill that will allow self-driving vehicles on California streets and highways. The bill (SB1298) was designed... Read More
There’s no good excuse for not wearing a seatbelt, but in case you needed yet another reason to buckle up, California Highway Patrol has begun taking a “zero tolerance”... Read More
Senate Bill 1464, which would require drivers to give bicyclists at least 3 feet of space when passing from behind, was approved by the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee... Read More
Recently we talked about how in New York City, there’s a discrepancy between the number of cyclist deaths in the city and arrests issued. The city doesn’t quite know... Read More
A new San Francisco startup offering a subscription based scooter sharing service is running into difficulties with California’s licensing laws. The company, Scoot Networks, was introduced earlier this month,... Read More
We've written a lot on this blog about the tragic result of San Francisco bus accidents. In the past, fatal Muni bus accidents have cost the city millions in... Read More
When it comes to cities that put a priority on bike safety, you can’t do much better than California’s Alameda County, the East Bay bicycle mecca that includes Berkeley.... Read More
In September 2008, a train accident near Chatsworth California killed 25 passengers and injured more than 135. Since commuter Metrolink was so clearly at fault for this accident, observers... Read More
Yesterday morning, a big rig truck collided with a UCSF shuttle van, killing 52 year-old Dr. Kevin Mack and injuring three other passengers. The accident occurred on Octavia Boulevard,... Read More
As the number of cyclists throughout California continues to rise each year, the state has consistently taken incremental steps toward improving bicycle safety on city streets and highways. This... Read More
We’ve all had moments where it feels like the traffic light will never change to green. Many intersections have sensors underneath the concrete that alert the traffic light when... Read More
Social media is a great way to stay connected with friends and family members. But as a professional development tool, the purpose of social media platforms like Facebook and... Read More
We’re constantly reminded that teen drivers are the demographic most likely to cause car accidents. Scientific studies on teen brain development show that the brain doesn’t even reach full... Read More
Teen drivers throughout the country are faced with countless dangers on city streets and highways. Teens are the demographic most likely to cause car a accident, technology poses the... Read More
Early this morning, Wednesday May 25, a pedestrian was struck and killed by a vehicle on the corner of Pierce Street and Lombard Street in San Francisco’s Marina District.... Read More
Summer is a great season for motorcyclists. Having more daylight hours and better road conditions assures that motorcyclists can take long drives up the California coastline or through the... Read More
California is broke, and with budgets stretched thin across the board, it’s difficult to make an effective argument for increasing spending, even if the result is increased safety on... Read More
There's no doubt that National Bike Month has been a resounding success here in California. The extended May cycle-centric holiday has lead to major safety campaigns statewide. But the... Read More
May is National Bike Month, which means that bicycle advocates and lawmakers throughout California are boosting efforts to increase bike ridership and improve bicycle safety. Thursday May 12 marks... Read More
Last Friday, 61 year-old James Hudson was killed by a drunk driver while crossing San Francisco’s Masonic Avenue, one of the city’s busiest and most dangerous arteries. The suspect,... Read More
San Francisco is getting serious about reducing bicycle accidents. The upsurge in bicycle and pedestrian fatalities in past months has lead the city’s Municipal Transportation Authority to improve safety... Read More
Both here in California and nationwide, residents and lawmakers are boosting bicycle safety awareness during May, National Bike Month. Many of these initiatives take aim at helping children learn... Read More
For some reason, the fact that nearly 650 people are killed in pedestrian accidents each year in California alone, has not prompted state lawmakers to get serious about cutting... Read More
No one ever said the law was simple. That’s a tense subject for Silicon Valley Mercury News columnist Gary Richards, who penned an editorial yesterday on California’s “confusing” distracted... Read More
What would you do if your bus driver was texting while driving? If you’re anything like San Francisco resident Shawn Higgins, who saw a bus driver texting on the... Read More
Since it’s Distracted Driving Awareness Month, we’ve been writing a lot about efforts to curb distracted driving here in California. Statewide, 225 local police agencies have teamed up with... Read More
Though 2010 marked the first annual Distracted Driving Awareness Month, California did not participate in an official capacity. So this year, California is making an impact with a statewide... Read More
So far, 2011 has been a great year for San Francisco pedestrian safety and bicycle safety. Facing troubling pedestrian and bicycle accident statistics, city lawmakers have enacted programs that... Read More
For years, the California Highway Patrol has done a fantastic job keeping our roads safe from dangerous drivers and reducing vehicle injuries and fatalities. That job has grown more... Read More
The California Public Utilities Commission fined PG&E $6 million last week for September’s devastating pipeline explosion, which many consumer advocates and San Bruno representatives call a major win for... Read More
Safety advocates throughout San Francisco have been pleased over the past few weeks with the city’s apparent goal to boost programs that would reduce pedestrian accidents in the coming... Read More
As pedestrians in San Francisco and throughout the country become more active, some increase in pedestrian accidents is inevitable. Especially when it comes to senior citizens, children, and people... Read More
Since DePuy Orthopedics announced a recall of one of its popular hip implant models last August, lawsuits have piled up against the Johnson & Johnson subsidiary. Most recently, it... Read More
As bicycle use continues to grow more popular, commuters remain vulnerable to bicycle accidents due primarily to the fact that city infrastructure for safe bicycle use lags far behind.... Read More
The pipeline explosion sent waves of concern throughout the San Francisco Bay Area when it unexpectedly destroyed a San Bruno neighborhood, killing 8 people and injuring more than 50... Read More
Most penalties for dangerous driving tickets are designed to prevent the perilous behavior from reoccurring. If you’re fined for driving 80 miles per hour in a 60 mph zone,... Read More
Whether you’re driving a passenger car, a motorcycle, or simply walking on the sidewalk, individuals don’t have much control over whether they will be involved in a deadly car... Read More
Have you ever turned the wrong way on a one-way street? How about entered the freeway going the wrong direction? That’s what happened to 83 year-old Clarence Kinney yesterday,... Read More
When the New York Times announced that it would devote a print section and webpage entirely to the Bay Area, residents were ready to step into the national limelight.... Read More
Since Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood made reducing distracted driving one of his top priorities, the dangerous practice has been the subject of heated debate among safety advocates, policy... Read More
Jessica Morales was watching Thursday Night Football at her boyfriend’s house in San Bruno when a pipeline explosion resulted in the deaths of Jessica and seven other San Bruno... Read More
As I’ve said before, getting hit by a bus has to be one of the worst nightmares imaginable. Clearly, much of the responsibility lies with pedestrians to be careful... Read More
As part of its ongoing campaign to assess pedestrian safety, the Governors Highway Safety Association has released preliminary data from each state regarding pedestrian fatalities in 2010. Based on... Read More
Since 2003, California-based energy company Pacific Gas & Electric has spiked pressure on gas pipelines nearly a dozen times, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. PG&E claims the practice is... Read More
Due to the increased likelihood of drunk driving and adverse road conditions, winter holidays always carry an extra risk of car accidents. This year, warns the auto advocate AAA,... Read More
Distracted driving is not just dangerous and thoughtless. It’s also a major crime when associated with the most terrifying circumstances. On September 15, 20-year-old Ani Voskanian caused an accident... Read More
Pleasant Hill, a town of about 33,000 located between Walnut Creek and Concord in California's Contra Costa County, is moving forward with a comprehensive bicycle and pedestrian plan designed... Read More
In it's forthcoming November issue, US News and World Report has ranked California as the best state for teen drivers, placing second only behind the District of Colombia. California... Read More
To round out National Teen Driver Safety Week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released an optimistic study showing that car accident deaths caused by teenagers has dropped... Read More
As National Teen Driver Safety Week, this has been an opportunity for teenagers, parents, and government officials to discuss important facts related to distracted driving, graduated licensing laws, and... Read More
Each year, more than 130 cyclists are killed on city streets in California alone, and nearly 700 are killed nationwide. Of these bicycle deaths, nine of ten were at... Read More
In mid-August, German tourist Nils Yannick Linke was struck and killed by a drunk driver at the intersection of Masonic and Turk streets in San Francisco. Soon after, a... Read More
When news outlets reported four dead in the days after this month's tragic PG&E pipeline explosion in San Bruno, observers here in California and nationwide hoped the number wouldn't... Read More
As more Americans take to the streets on bicycles in order to reduce their carbon footprints, unclog the streets, and get some additional exercise, traffic laws often prove insufficient... Read More
As elected leaders, transportation officials, and safety advocates converge in Washington DC today for the second annual distracted driving summit, the level of impact existing anti-distraction laws have had... Read More
We wrote in May that California lawmakers were considering a bill that would end a liability loophole for adults responsible for teen drinking. Currently, California is one of only... Read More
That old Operation game has come to life, to the detriment of an abnormally high number of patients at California hospitals. In the past two years, doctors have left... Read More
Many ethical issues related to alcohol consumption are notoriously shaded in gray. Ideally, it would be up to the consumer to set his or her own limits to avoid... Read More
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed two bills Sunday that will require or encourage convicted drunk drivers to install ignition-interlock devices in their vehicles. The devices allow a car to be... Read More
