Articles Posted in Car Accidents

The new Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Expo Line was suddenly and unexpectedly closed yesterday morning, when a Toyota car crashed through a fence and over the Expo’s light rail tracks at Exposition Boulevard, thereby blocking the Expo train on its first work day.

Such car and truck collisions, crashes and accidents remind everyone of the reality of the L.A. Metro Line – its proximity to L.A. traffic.   Unlike underground subways or raised trains, the surface metro trains prevalent in Los Angeles County unfortunately are subject to frequent L.A. traffic collisions and accidents.  This traffic also obviously slows down the trains and adds to commuter times, but the construction cost savings (except when accidents result) are substantial.

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A Van Nuys car accident this morning, at around 6:00 A.M., resulted in six people suffering serious enough injuries to need to be transported to the hospital for medical care. According to the Los Angeles Times, the Van Nuys accident happened when five cars collided with each other at Vanowen Street and Sepulveda Boulevard.

Authorities disclosed that the injuries to the six people ranged from moderate to severe, but fortunately nobody was killed in this accident. Earlier reports indicated that there was a car accident fatality in this incident.

The Los Angeles Fire Department and Los Angeles Police Department were helping care for the victims at the scene of the car accident in Van Nuys. The LAPD will need to investigate the accident and prepare a Traffic Collision Report, wherein they indicate the statements of the parties and provide their recommendation as to fault, if possible, from the information they are able to obtain.

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The idea and implementation of autonomous (driverless) cars is getting much publicity lately, especially in California where many large technology companies such as Google have been experimenting with the technology. Bloomberg Business recently reported that the Michigan Transportation Research Institute did a report that found that driverless cars are involved in twice as many car accidents as regular cars.

Fortunately for the driverless car industry, those accidents have been relatively minor and the cars driven by humans have been at fault. The cause of these car accidents apparently often comes down to humans not being able to properly anticipate the actions of the autonomous vehicle. Humans are accustomed to driving amongst other human drivers, knowing what to expect and what not to expect. For example, humans will expect other drivers to drive above the speed limit on the freeway when there is open traffic, however driverless cars are programmed not to exceed the speed limit. Driverless cars may also start and stop differently to how a human driven car would do those things.

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The Los Angeles rain storm that started early this morning has caused many rear end car accidents.  The rain water, mixed with oil and other greasy like substances that has been accumulating on our streets, has coated the streets in Los Angeles, including the San Fernando Valley, with a slick substance causing many rear end crashes, some causing serious injuries, including to head, neck, shoulders and back.

In such rainy weather conditions, it is important to do the following:

• Drive slower
• Keep extra space or distance between your car and the vehicle in front of you.
• When approaching an intersection with a stop sign or red traffic signal, plan to stop at least one car length farther away from the intersection than you normally would, to allow sufficient time to stop and avoid any vehicle in front of you, any pedestrians and any bicycle riders.
• Preventative maintenance: Be sure your tires are properly inflated, your windshield wipers are in good condition and your brakes are in good working order.  Many tire stores and repair shops will fill tires and check wipers and brakes as a courtesy.  If you need any referrals to do this, just give us a call.

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According to the Simi Valley Acorn, local taxi drivers and taxi company owners were at the Simi Valley City Council meeting on Monday to protest against the rise of Uber, a popular ride sharing service, in the community. Their main problem with Uber is that while taxis must abide by many regulations, Uber is often not subject to the same regulations. Accordingly, if there is a Simi Valley Uber car accident, the customer may not have the same rights as if he or she was in a Simi Valley taxi accident.

The taxi representatives said that they must abide by requirements such as background checks, inspections of taxis, fees and commercial insurance for their vehicles. They feel that Uber, a service where users order a ride from an Uber driver via an application on the user’s phone, does not have to abide by the same rules and therefore is able to operate at less expensive prices. This has cost taxi owners and drivers much of their business.

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Four people suffered injuries on Friday in a three car accident in Agoura. The Agoura car accident happened on Kanan Road, near Castle View Drive. This is about a mile and a half from the 101 Freeway. The Malibu Patch reports that the accident occurred when a Toyota went into oncoming traffic and struck a Lexus. The Lexus was then rear ended by a Honda.

The most serious injuries from this Agoura accident were suffered by Elizabeth Bowlus, a 51 year old Malibu woman, who was the driver of the Lexus. Her injuries were described as “major” and she was taken to the UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center. One other person suffered serious injuries in this car accident on Kanan Road, while two other people suffered what were described as minor injuries.

The three vehicle crash was investigated by the California Highway Patrol. It appears that the driver of the Toyota caused the series of collisions and will most likely be found responsible by the accident investigators. However, the reason the car veered into oncoming traffic has not been released. Sometimes drivers will veer off the road or into opposing traffic if they are distracted while driving, including while texting or eating while driving. Other times a driver will swerve to avoid a hazard on the road and may end up causing more damage and more injuries than had he or she struck the original hazard.

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