Motorcycle Lane-Splitting is Legal in California
Motorcycle season is in full swing and now is the perfect time to remind all drivers to play it safe. There are more than one million licensed motorcycle riders in Calif. and the climate in the sun-drenched state means motorcyclists will be numerous in the coming months.
In conjunction with declaring May to be Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month. the California Office of Traffic Safety has published the results of its first-ever survey on the thoughts of both motorcyclists and automobile drivers on lane-splitting.
“Lane-splitting” is squeezing between two lanes of slower vehicle traffic headed in the same direction. Experts urge motorcyclists and drivers to be aware of the riders who split lanes. Although it’s legal, the survey shows that only 53 percent of drivers know that, and some of them admit trying to stop bikers from riding between lanes of traffic.
While drivers need to look for motorcycle riders, it’s important for motorcyclists to minimize their risks by riding responsibly. They need to assume that people driving cars may not see them, especially if the rider is in their blind spots. Motorcycle riders need to look out for themselves by wearing the right gear – a proper correctly fit helmet, armored jacket, pants, boots and gloves. Every motorcycle rider, from novice to experienced bikers, can also benefit from safety training. The CHP offers a California Motorcyclist Safety Program.
“Share the Road” is the Message During Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month.
Everyday should be Brain Injury Awareness.
March has been Brain Injury Awareness month, however, just because the month is coming to a close doesn’t take away from the importance of taking care of your brain – it’s the only one you have.
The brain cannot regenerate itself. When someone suffers a severe brain injury, the initial impact can be deadly. However, according to the Brain Injury Institute, if they survive, progressive degeneration of the brain can continue during the hours, days, weeks and months that follow.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports these as the most common causes of brain injury:
- 35 % from falls
- 20 % from car accidents or truck accidents
- 19% from impact with a moving object
- 11% from attacks
- Other causes include sports injuries and shaking – “shaken baby syndrome”
Once your brain is injured, your life will never be the same. Your “thinking organ” can affect the way you act, feel, perceive and respond to others, including your family. It is important to understand, that although a personmay “look fine” on the outside, the brain injury may cause changes which affect their behavior. People who have suffered a TBI may display irritability, depression, apathy, anxiety, agitation, frustration; display a confrontational attitude and/or outbursts of anger; feelings of guilt and feelings of helplessness. They may become impatient, fearful or thoughtless, and have difficulty doing their usual routine or tasks. It can be most frustrating to families and friends because a person with TBI may have little to no awareness of just how different he or she is acting.
Several posts were written this month to assist you in learning more about brain injury and the important of using protection when possible, such as bicycle helmets.
Any traumatic brain injury is potentially catastrophic. Take care of your brain everyday.
As USA grays, elder abuse risk and need for shelters grow
They’re weak, physically or mentally disabled or both, and often at the mercy of people they depend on the most: relatives and caretakers.
They’re the nation’s fast-growing elderly population, and many are prime targets for abuse — physical, financial, sexual or emotional.
Concern among the elderly and their advocates is mounting as the number of seniors soars and more of them live longer.
Read the rest of this article in USA Today. 
By learning to recognize signs of abuse and reporting suspected cases, you can make a difference in the lives of elderly and dependent Californians. Get your copy of A Citizens Guide to Preventing and Reporting Elder Abuse
US Supreme Court Permits Waivers Of Class Action Rights In Arbitration Agreements
Supreme Court upholds class action waivers in AT&T v. Concepcion.
This is bad law. In effect, the US Supreme Court has created a safe harbor for corporate fraud, it’s sort of like licensing a tax on everything we buy. So long as the amounts stolen are too small to justify an individual case, crooked practices will be profitable.
At some point, corporate greed will demonstrate to all why this decision is wrongheaded. In the meantime, caveat emptor (ie, “buyer beware”), big time.
Winning cases is great, however, you still gotta get paid.
This week, a California appeals court granted the tobacco giant, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., a reprieve from paying $700,000 in attorneys’ fees in a dispute with the state. This case alleged Reynolds violated a settlement agreement by “ ‘using or causing to be used’ any ‘cartoon’ in the advertising, promoting, labeling or packaging of tobacco products“. Court of Appeals of California, Fourth District, Division One. No. D056589.
This goes to show the risk of the contingent fee. It is one thing to successfully bring a valid claim. It is another to actually recover money. Lawyers who do contingency fee work truly do risk their own capital and time to help people work out their disputes in a productive fashion, that is, in a justice system. Compare that free market system with what goes on in, say, China, and you begin to understand why the founding fathers put the right to a civil jury trial in our federal constitution.
