Accident Prevention

While traffic officials applaud a new law that makes it illegal for drivers to read, write or send text messages, they admit there is little evidence that last year's ban against talking on a hand-held cellphone has actually prevented accidents. Since holding a phone to your ear was made a traffic violation last July, the California Highway Patrol has written about 48,000 tickets, fining drivers from $20 to $50.

Stephen Owings, whose 22-year-old son died when his car was rear-ended, is fighting to have the federal government require the use of speed-limiting devices on all big rigs, saying: "We're not against truckers; we're pro-highway safety." Most often, citizen-crusaders find themselves in lonely, unequal struggles against industry groups and lobbyists. But this time, David and Goliath seem to be on the same side. Owings has drawn support from the American Trucking Assns.

As the anniversary of the Sept. 12 Chatsworth train disaster approaches, officials with Southern California's sprawling commuter rail service are facing a vexing array of technical, financial and potential legal challenges as they struggle to deliver on pledges of trailblazing safety reforms. A burst of energy to remake the region's Metrolink train operation was unleashed by the deadliest rail collision in modern California history, a watershed event that killed 25, injured 130 and prompted landmark federal mandates to modernize the nation's rail safety systems.

As an American Airlines jet readied for takeoff on the runway at this city's airport recently, red lights embedded in the pavement at intersecting taxiways down the field blinked on, warning other aircraft to stay clear. Air traffic controllers watched from the tower as the slender silver MD-80 started rolling down the runway, gaining speed on its way to Dallas. Once it was safe, the red lights clicked off.

Former rodeo rider and jockey Kim Terry has been around all sorts of animals his whole life, but it's the wild burros that have snorted and kicked their way into his heart. He loves their moxie, respects their survival skills and is smitten with what he calls their "fantastic personalities." "Just don't get behind them," he advised recently as he prepared to flush a dozen or so from a holding pen. Terry let rip with a sharp "heyaaaah!" and charged them, swinging a long blue stick.

A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the government may not withhold key data on serious car accidents from the public. The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia potentially ends years of litigation over the data, and could soon put crash information collected by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration into the hands of journalists, consumer watchdogs and others.

A state authority is set to decide next week whether transportation planners have done enough to make the Expo Line safe as it passes two South Los Angeles schools. Some residents and school officials want the rail line to either be put underground or on a bridge near one or both schools. Builders of the $862-million line say that would unnecessarily drive up costs and probably delay a transit system that could open by 2010 and provide an alternative to the Westside's traffic congestion.

On my 16th birthday, my parents escorted me to the Department of Motor Vehicles for my driving test. When I passed, it came as a relief to all of us. I rejoiced in my new independence, and my parents celebrated the fact that they no longer had to act as my chauffeur. Within days, my parents presented me with the keys to the brown Chevy Malibu my brother had driven before leaving for college -- and off I went.

A collision-avoidance system that transportation safety board investigators say could have prevented the fatal collision of two trains in Placentia nearly five years ago was approved for use on freight trains by federal regulators Monday. The system, called positive train control, will warn crew members of dangerous situations and automatically apply the brakes if they fail to act.

With an infusion of an extra $3 million this year, California's pesticide agency will beef up enforcement and revive axed programs to meet a new goal of eliminating all serious pesticide poisonings. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed budget for the Department of Pesticide Regulation increased 5% this year to nearly $69 million, with the extra money coming from a crackdown on unpaid pesticide sales fees at big-box retailers, including Costco, Home Depot and Wal-Mart.