Los Angeles California Personal Injury Law Blog

If you live in Southern California, many of your friends and relatives in other parts of the country may assume you never drive in weather that is anything but warm and sunny. That is not necessarily the truth, however. California is home to many mountains and you might want to go for a morning bike ride along the coast and then head up to the mountain for an afternoon of skiing, for example.

Because most days in the region do offer pleasant weather, it is important to get a refresher on safe practices when driving in snowy or icy conditions. As explained by AAA Exchange, one of the most important things you should do is allow a greater amount of distance between you and any vehicle in front of you than you would in normal condition. This gives you more space to stop safely. You should also reduce your speed as the posted speed limits are based on good road conditions.

Residents in California have for a long time known that driving with a blood alcohol content of 0.08 percent or greater is against the law. This is the threshold that has been recognized by all 50 states for many years now. The purpose of identifying a legal limit for drunk driving is ideally to prevent accidents, reduce injuries and save lives.

As reported by Quartz, Utah was actually the first state in the nation to establish the current BAC legal limit of 0.08 percent. This was done by Utah in 1983, three years after the founding of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. The previous legal limit in that state and in many states at the time was 0.10 percent. Over time, the entire nation adopted 0.08 as a standard for determining intoxication in drivers.

While driving in traffic can be frustrating and time-consuming, it is an inherent part of your commute each day in California. Your efforts to plan and be prepared for periods of waiting in bumper-to-bumper traffic can help you to be more patient and stay safer. 

Perhaps the best thing you can do is to give yourself plenty of time to travel from one location to another. The more stressed you are about arriving somewhere on time when you are already behind, the more impatient you may be when you run into a snarl in traffic. State Farm suggests that you keep a constant eye on the road ahead. Be aware of when the car in front of you begins to brake so you can immediately follow suit. Slamming on your brakes can create frustration for you and can also cause an accident if you do not have enough time to stop or the car behind you does not have enough time to stop either. 

Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, most residents in California find themselves fully immersed in the holiday season. From putting up decorations to buying and wrapping gifts to attending holiday functions, there is no shortage of special activities that happen at this time of year. Unfortunately, the increase in special events may put Californians at a greater risk of being involved in an accident caused by a drunk driver.

According to KVTU.com, the 2016 Christmas holiday saw 621 people arrested for and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. Over the 2017 Christmas holiday period, more than 900 people were charged with drunk driving throughout the state. These arrests took place over the course of only three days and six hours and do not reflect the arrests or accidents that may have occurred throughout the month of December.