Traffic Safety

Drunk driving deaths in California dropped for a third straight year in 2008, the state Office of Traffic Safety said Thursday, but motorcycle fatalities continued a decade-long rise, mirroring a national increase. Overall, traffic deaths dropped by 14% in 2008, to 3,434, the state said, using figures released last month by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Alcohol- related deaths accounted for slightly less than one-third of the total, and were down 9.1% -- a slightly smaller decline than for the nation as a whole.

Late nearly every night, Vicki Kipper says, she hears the roar of drivers racing outside her Highland Avenue home, occasionally punctuated by the crunch of a speeding car tearing the side mirror off a parked car. "You hear them before you see them," said Kipper, who has lived on Highland for 26 years. "We also hear cars getting hit all the time out here."

The rampant theft of copper and other metals in Southern California has begun hitting Inland Empire freeways hard, leaving motorists in increasing danger as traffic signals and lights in underpasses and rest areas have gone dark, law enforcement and Caltrans officials said Tuesday. Thieves also have swiped guardrails and irrigation systems along roadways.

Have you ever thought rush hour on the 405 Freeway might be more bearable if you could check your e-mail, shop for a book on Amazon, place some bids on EBay and maybe even, if nobody is looking, download a little porn? Then perhaps you should be driving a Chrysler. The nation's third-largest automaker is set to announce Thursday that it's making wireless Internet an option on all its 2009 models. The mobile hotspot, called UConnect Web, would be the first such technology from any automaker.

Federal investigators said Wednesday that records from Metrolink engineer Robert M. Sanchez's cellphone show that he sent and received text messages while on duty Friday, the day he was involved in a catastrophic train collision in Chatsworth. However, investigators have not yet analyzed the records to determine whether Sanchez was using his phone at the time his train slammed into an oncoming Union Pacific freight train in an accident that left 25 people dead and 135 others injured.

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.

Most days in Christian County, Amish horse-drawn buggies clip-clop through simple country scenes: cornfields framed with white picket fences, farmland dotted with cattle, homes with smoke billowing from their chimneys and clotheslines fluttering in the wind. But Sundays involve quite another scene: To get to church, the Amish families pull their traditional black buggies onto Highway 41, where large fluorescent-yellow road signs framed with flashing solar-powered lights guide their way.

Two or three mornings a week, I get the day started with a shot of adrenaline and vehicular aggression coursing through my veins. Who needs caffeine when you have vintage Volkswagens coming at you the wrong way? Cement trucks running red lights, unlicensed bus drivers and traffic circles where a Darwinian, survival-of-the-rudest logic prevails: I fight them all just to get my daughter to preschool, a harrowing drive of 1.3 miles. Last year, more new cars were sold in Mexico than ever before: 1.

Jerry Garrett roams Atlanta in a Ford Ranger, stopping frequently at the side of the road to pick up old lumber, metal and junk. It is a routine that does not involve the fastening or unfastening of a seat belt. "I ain't never liked seat belts," the 55-year-old construction worker said as he pulled into a Lowe's parking lot in Atlanta. "I don't believe the government should force working men to wear them."

While talking to a high school social studies class last fall, state Rep. Joyce McDonald noticed students sending each other text messages on their cellphones. That, she says crisply, sparked a discussion. "I was really a bit shocked to learn just how much these kids text each other, including when they are driving," says McDonald, 54. "I mean, I'm a talker. I can't understand why in the world you would send your friend a text message rather than just calling up to say hello."