Safety Equipment

The first time Dave Hoch took his Hokey Spokes for a spin, "People were just running down the street" after him. "Traffic," he said, "pretty much stopped." And for good reason. The multi-colored LED lights he'd fastened to the spokes of his bicycle were blinking in a kaleidoscopic pattern, a test run of the unconventional but intriguing new safety lights he'd invented. "Cars that would never see you, now they're stopping 50 feet away," Hoch, 42, said.

Spectators attending NHL exhibition games tonight at Staples Center and Friday night at the Arrowhead Pond will get their first look at new protective netting behind the goals--a sad reminder of one of the league's darkest hours.

Warren Anderson always seemed to come away from the first few days of football practice with a headache. He thought it was a natural reaction as he adjusted to the contact each season. Until this summer. In two weeks on the Ventura St. Bonaventure High practice field, Anderson hasn't heard ringing in his ears, an improvement he attributes to his "Revolution"--a newly designed helmet by Riddell, the nation's largest manufacturer of adult football helmets.

In response to consumer and lawmaker outrage over the accidents, injuries and deaths blamed on faulty and since- recalled Firestone tires, the federal government has mandated that tire pressure monitors be phased in as standard equipment on cars and light trucks over three years, beginning Nov. 1, 2003.

Federal regulators are requiring auto makers to start equipping new cars and light trucks with some type of tire pressure monitor. But what about all those passenger vehicles out there that aren't new? Retrofitting with one of the systems being required on new vehicles can be prohibitively expensive, costing hundreds of dollars. If you don't have anti-lock braking, one type of system won't work anyhow. A company in Fullerton, Tire Guard USA, may have an affordable answer. Tire Guard (www.

NASA's shuttle fleet was grounded Friday for at least two more months because of small fuel-line cracks that the space agency fears could splinter into dangerous chunks of metal. "We're not going to fly until we're satisfied that we understand this problem," shuttle program manager Ron Dittemore said. At the same time, NASA is being criticized by its own inspector general's office for failing to provide adequate safety oversight over shuttle launching preparations by the contractor.

A bill requiring that gun safety locks be certified as safe before they can be sold in California was passed by the Senate on Monday and sent to the Assembly, where its approval is expected. The vote was 22-9. Under the bill (SB 1670) by Sen. Jack Scott (D-Altadena), trigger locks and other devices would be subject to approval by the state Department of Justice before they could enter the marketplace.

A flood of last-minute suggestions about how to make television news gathering safer may slow implementation of the nation's first safety rules for TV trucks, state officials said Friday. More than 100 people submitted testimony to state Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board members who met Thursday to hammer out safety requirements for microwave vans used for news show "live shots."

More than 100 emergency exit hatches across the MTA's subway system will be fitted with new springs to decrease the amount of force needed to open the heavy doors during an evacuation, authorities said. Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials said that if an emergency such as a fire, crash or terrorist attack were to occur on the 17-mile Red Line, some passengers might not be strong enough to push the steel doors open and climb to the street.

Los Angeles building officials, who allowed county Supervisor Gloria Molina and her husband to skirt building codes on a retaining wall at their house, said they are now investigating whether the couple broke the law by building a swimming pool there without a permit and without installing required safety equipment.