A San Francisco family was involved in a deadly Thanksgiving weekend car accident according to a report from KGO-TV. The family was coming back from their Thanksgiving celebrations in the East Bay when their Prius collided head-on with a mini-van on Highway 50 near Placerville.
A recent study into car accident data indicates that fatal car crashes peak during Thanksgiving week. Researchers say that weather, drunk driving, and increased numbers of people on the road all contribute to a higher rate of fatal crashes during turkey week. Researchers from the University of Alabama Center for Advanced Public Safety define Thanksgiving week as the Monday before the holiday and the Sunday after it.
A local medical resident is dead after a Northeast Fresno pedestrian accident. Authorities say that a driver ran over the 30-year-old emergency medical resident as she was walking in a crosswalk with a friend. The accident happened at the corner of Shepherd and Champlain on Friday night.
A 41-year-old Brentwood father was killed last week in a severe Byron motorcycle accident. Authorities say that the crash happened shortly after 4 p.m. last Monday when a tractor began a left-hand turn on Byron Highway near Bruns Road.
Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins was recently released from a hospital after being hit by a car in Lancashire, England. The 32-year-old professional cyclist is the winner of the 2012 Tour de France and the first ever English winner of the famous race. He is also the first cyclist to have won an Olympic track cycling gold medal and a Grand Tour in the same year.
This weeks question comes from David T. in Marin who asks, “I purchased a new hybrid car in February of this year. Right away it had problems, with all things, its electric systems. This has caused the car to stall out on me twice, on the highway while I commuted to San Jose. It is unreliable and just turns off by itself sometimes. I have brought it back to the dealer three times and they haven’t been able to fix it. I think it is a lemon. What are my rights?”
This summer we blogged about the federal government giving funds to California to help stop texting-and-driving on local roads. The Dept. of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently announced plans further its grant program to fight texting-while-driving in other states, including a $550,000 grant to Massachusetts and Connecticut.
Cyclists in San Francisco and around California are using helmet-cameras to catch hit-and-run drivers. These cameras have become the black boxes of the cycling world and have helped authorities catch many drivers who hit bikers and then took off. Typically a cyclist wearing a helmet camera is hit from behind but manages to catch the distracted driver’s license plate while falling.
CBS San Francisco is reporting that a fiery Brentwood car accident has killed one and injured two. The accident happened Monday afternoon near the intersection of Vasco Road and Camino Diablo Road. Authorities say that a 21-year-old Oakley man lost control of his vehicle and veered into oncoming traffic.
Rock star Mitchell Lucker was recently killed in a California motorcycle accident. The 28-year-old was the frontman of the death metal band “Suicide Silence.” Lucker released three albums with the band, the last of which was a top 30 hit on the U.S. Billboard Album Charts. The motorcycle accident happened in Huntington Beach on Halloween and Lucker died of his injuries last Thursday at the UC Irvine Medical Center.