Drivers in Los Angeles ranked at the bottom of the list in a new report compiled by insurance Allstate. The report ranks safe drivers in close to 200 American cities. No Los Angeles car accident attorney should find it strange that motorists in Los Angeles ranked at the bottom of the heap.

Los Angeles drivers have an almost 50% higher likelihood of being involved in an accident, compared to the national average. Los Angeles motorists also have a gap of just about 6.6 years between accidents.

Other California cities did not fare much better. In San Diego, California, motorists had about 8.8 years between accidents, and were approximately 14% more likely to be involved in an accident, compared to the national average, while in Sioux Falls in South Dakota, the safest city in the country, motorists spent almost 14 years between accidents.

In California, the most accident-prone cities were San Francisco, Los Angeles, Fullerton, and Glendale. Overall, 45 California cities featured on the Allstate list. California's safest city was Visalia, which ranked at number 24 on the list. In Visalia according to Allstate, the average motorist will be involved in an accident every 11 years.

There are a number of reasons why drivers in California rank so low in the report. For one thing, California's congested cities and perennial traffic problems seem to contribute to feelings of road rage, manifested in aggressive driving. Additionally, motorists in California, especially in cities like Los Angeles, are accustomed to an auto-centric culture that is focused on the automobile as the “star” of the road. Many of the auto safety problems that you find in California are linked to the refusal by many drivers to share the road safely with others. Many motorists in California seem to believe that the roads are meant solely for their own use with no place for motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians.

Consumer Product Safety Commission investigators clamped down as many as 360 products that were in violation of US safety codes, and prevented these from entering the country in the second quarter of the fiscal year 2012. In all, the investigators screened more than 3,740 products, and prevented 350,000 violative products from entering the country.

As any Los Angeles product liability lawyer would expect, most of the products that were prevented from entering the country because they were in violation of safety codes, were children's products. Lead poisoning was the number one reason why children's products were prohibited from entering the country by investigators. Several children's products that contained excessive levels of lead were prevented from entering the country.

Other children's products that were rejected at the port were children's sleepwear that did not meet federal standards. When a product does not meet flammability standards, it is at a much higher risk of causing fires and burn injuries to a child. The 3rd most frequent cause for a product getting rejected at the port was the presence of choking hazards, especially those involving children below the age of 3.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission also clamped down on other non-child-related products, including fireworks and mattresses that were non-compliant with federal safety standards. Consumer Product Safety Commission investigators worked together with agents of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, to prevent thousands of defective products from entering the country.

During the fiscal year 2011, the agency had prevented as many as 4.5 million defective products from entering the country. As many as 9,900 product shipments were inspected by the agency last year.

Federal agencies are warning about the risk to children when baby monitors are not kept safely out of reach of children. The Consumer Product Safety Commission along with a children's products group is issuing a warning about the strangulation hazards with the use of these baby monitors.

Millions of parents across the country use video and audio baby monitors that are intended to alert the parent when the baby is awake, or in need of a feed. However, not many parents are aware that these monitors conceal a possibly dangerous hazard that can actually kill an infant. Since 2002, there have been at least 7 reports of fatalities involving children who were strangled to death after they became entangled in the cords of the baby monitors. At least 3 children suffered near-strangulation incidents involving a baby monitor cord during this period of time.

Federal authorities are taking the threats seriously. Last week, the Consumer Product Safety Commission in association with the Juvenile Product Manufacturer’s Association, launched a baby safety campaign. The campaign has been designed to alert parents as well as caregivers about the risks of strangulation from the baby monitor hazards.

The most important thing that parents could do to keep their children safe from these strangulation hazards is to make sure that the baby monitor is located at least 3 feet away from the cribs. A child may be curious, and may reach out to grasp the monitor. If the child gets its hands on the cord of the device, then it's just a matter of time before the child manages to get the cord wrapped around its neck. This poses a serious strangulation hazard, and those risks are very real.

For now, California personal injury lawyers would not suggest that parents stop using baby monitors altogether. However, it is important that you make sure that these monitors are placed at a safe distance away from your child.

Every year, millions of Americans are injured in a number of preventable accidents that range all the way from workplace accidents to car accidents. The National Safety Council is marking the month of June as National Safety Month, and has planned a number of programs aimed at increasing awareness about injury prevention.

This entire month, the National Safety Council will dedicate one week to a single injury theme. There are a number of themes planned, including employee wellness, motor vehicle safety, slip and fall accidents and ergonomics.

The month kicked off with a focus on employee health and wellness, and week two was dedicated to ergonomics. The other two weeks will be dedicated to preventing motor vehicle accidents, and slip and fall accidents. The group is encouraging organizations to become involved in this initiative, and take responsibility to increase awareness among their employees about preventing injuries.

The injuries that the National Safety Council is focusing on preventing this June are preventable. The timing of the commemoration is especially appropriate because summer, which tends to be the most injurious time of the year for American citizens, is here. Los Angeles personal injury lawyers find that more people are injured while performing the most routine activities like driving or eating during summer, than other times of the year. Further, there is also an increase in the number of drowning and near-drowning incidents reported during summer.

Organizations or safety groups that want to participate in the initiative have access to a number of resources that are available for free download on the National Safety Council website. There are resources for canoeing safety, skating, playground and skateboarding safety, safe bicycling tips, fireworks safety, and prevention of sun and heat exposure. There's also a special section for children and the need for prevention of injuries involving children during summer.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently lowered the limits for lead poisoning in children, which means that more numbers of children in the country are now considered at risk for lead poisoning.

Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lowered the limit for lead poisoning to 5 mcg of lead per deciliter of blood. The earlier limit was 10 mcg of lead per deciliter of blood. Under the earlier standards, approximately 250,000 children were believed to be at risk of lead poisoning. However, under the new standards, it is believed that as many as 450,000 children in the country could be at risk of lead poisoning.

Any Los Angeles personal injury lawyer would welcome the new lowered standards for lead poisoning because it means that children who have even 5 mcg of lead per deciliter of their blood will be considered at risk of lead poisoning. These children can be monitored for their lead levels, and can be appropriately treated.

However, just because the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has strengthened the lead poisoning standards, does not mean that the agency can now invest more resources in awareness, education, monitoring and tracking programs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently had its funding for lead poisoning prevention slashed by 90%.

In 2011, the agency enjoyed $29 million in funding for lead poisoning prevention programs, and that funding was slashed to $2 million this year. The Lead Poisoning Prevention Program of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now going to be vastly understaffed. The program earlier had 26 employees, and the agency plans to cut down the workforce to just 6 employees.

That means that the agency is simply not going to have the kind of resources necessary to implement lead poisoning prevention programs.

Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine are reporting the results of a path-breaking new experiment into the treatment of spinal cord injury-related paralysis of the hands. By using an innovative new technique that involved the rerouting of nerves to the upper arms and hands, the researchers were able to get a 71-year-old man who had suffered a spinal cord injury, to get his hands moving again.

The man had suffered a spinal cord injury at the base of his neck in a car accident. He was unable to walk, and was unable to use his hand to hold, or pinch. There was no damage to the nerves of the hands, but they had lost their connection with the brain.

However, the nerves in the upper arm still had a connection established with the brain. The researchers rewired the nerves of the hand, and connected them to the upper arm. Now, the brain was connected to the hand, and the muscles of the hand were able to follow instructions from the brain.

The man is now able to feed himself, and with some assistance, can even write a little. What the doctors essentially did was build a new route from the brain to the hand, via the upper arm. After about eight months, the man was able to use his thumb, index and middle fingers.

According to the doctors, more developed functioning of the hand may be seen after a few months. The doctors expect that as the man is put through a course of physiotherapy, the ability to use his fingers and hands will improve. However, such treatment may only be beneficial to specific injuries to the base of the neck.

California personal injury lawyers expect that there will be follow up research to determine whether the functioning of the hand will improve to the levels before the injury.

The death of a young mother from injuries sustained in an inflatable pool slide accident has resulted in the recall of the slides. The Consumer Product Safety Commission is announcing the recall of thousands of Banzai inflatable in-ground waterslides. Approximately 21,000 in-ground inflatable pool slides are included in this recall.

According to the company, the hazard exists in the possibility that the slide can be deflated during use. This can cause the user to fall on the ground underneath the slide, and sustain injuries.

The slide is also believed to be unstable, and there is a hazard that the slide can topple over. The risk of toppling over exists in both still as well as windy conditions. Moreover, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Banzai in-ground inflatable pool slides do not come with adequate warnings and instructions to users.

The slides were manufactured for use with in-ground pools. At least one death has been linked to the use of the slide. A 29-year-old woman died in an accident in Massachusetts. According to reports, the woman was going down the in-ground slide, when the slide became partially deflated. The woman hit her head against the edge of the pool, which was made of concrete. She sustained serious injuries, and died.

The slides are manufactured in China, and were sold at Toys "R" Us Inc. and Wal-Mart stores across the country between January 2005 and June 2009. The Consumer Product Safety Commission is asking consumers to stop using the products immediately, and return them to their nearest Toys "R" Us or Wal-Mart store.

There seems to be a very serious risk of suffering head injuries, or even brain injuries from using these inflatable slides. As any California brain injury lawyer knows, these are some of the most serious injuries, and can even be fatal. Survivors are often left with long-term complications and disabilities that can last for the rest of their lives.

Hip implants have been linked to everything from failures to metal poisoning. A new study finds however that there is no association between the use of metal hip implant devices and the risk of cancer. The researchers also admit that it is necessary to conduct more in-depth research into any potential link.

The researchers focused on more than 40,000 patients who had metal-on-metal hip implant devices. They found that a 60-year-old healthy man who had been implanted with a metal-on-metal hip implant replacement, had a 6.2% chance of developing cancer 5 years after the surgery. However, when they analyzed patients who had hip replacement devices made of alternate materials, the risk of developing cancer was found to be just 6.7%.

Basically, there was no difference in the risk of developing cancer between people who have metal-on-metal replacements or other types of devices.

Previous studies conducted by BBC Newsnight and the British Medical Journal on metal-on-metal hip replacement devices have found that cobalt and chromium ions from the metal implants can leak into the bloodstream of the patient. The ions can erode from the device and can leak right into the bloodstream. From there, the ions can leak into the spleen, kidneys, and liver before being eliminated from the body.

The risk of potentially serious metal poisoning or blood poisoning from the use of these metal implants is very real. Therefore, Los Angeles defective product lawyers are not ready to believe as yet that there is no risk of more serious diseases like cancer from the use of these implants. There's much that we still don't know about the adverse effects of these implants on patients.

In a study that has raised concerns among Los Angeles car accident lawyers and auto safety groups, as many as 30% of American workers reported that they did not get enough sleep.  That means a huge population of motorists going to work in a fatigued, sleep-deprived state.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 40.6 million people are not getting sufficient sleep.  These people get 6 or fewer hours of sleep in a day.  The National Sleep Foundation recommends that people get between 7 to 9 hours of sleep each day.  The CDC report however shows that this is not happening.  Far too many workers are in a fatigued state when they drive to work. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that workers in some specific industries or those who work in particular types of jobs are more at risk for drowsy driving.  For instance, workers who work the night shift are at a higher risk of driving while fatigued.  Also, those who work in the transportation industries, warehouses, and healthcare industries at a much higher risk of sleep deprivation.

Recently, another study by the National Sleep Foundation found that transportation workers are a highly sleep-deprived lot.  Train operators, pilots, truck drivers, and bus drivers were all found to be highly sleep deprived, operating on fewer hours of sleep than the recommended number per day.  Many of them also admitted in the survey that they had frequently made mistakes while driving as a result of driving while sleepy.  Pilots and train operators were found to be at the highest risk of making mistakes while sleepy.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also found that people who hold more than one job, divorcees, widows and people who have recently separated from their partners are much more likely to be sleep deprived.

The federal administration is planning to ask automakers to design and install brake override systems in order to reduce the risk of accidents caused by high-speed, unintended acceleration.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s proposal is meant to address concerns over unintended acceleration involving several Toyota vehicles.  The agency's concerns increased after an accident in 2009 that involved a Toyota Lexus ES 350 which speeded up to uncontrollable speeds and crashed, killing all 4 occupants.  By the time the car crashed, it was travelling speeds of more than 100 mph.  The accident which occurred in San Diego killed an off-duty California Highway Patrol officer, his wife, daughter and brother-in-law.

That incident opened the floodgates for hundreds of complaints about unintended acceleration involving Toyota vehicles. It also resulted in hundreds of Toyota owners consulting with California personal injury lawyers about their rights.

Investigators believe that the accident happened as a result of improper installation of a floor mat on the Toyota Lexus.  They believe that the floor mat trapped the accelerator pedal, increasing speeds to high levels.  Since then, millions of Toyota vehicles having been recalled in order to fix the floor mat problem and reduce the risks of unintended acceleration. 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration believes that brake override systems can help prevent such accidents.  According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, during its investigations into these crashes, it found that brake override systems could do a lot to prevent these accidents.

The brake override system would allow the driver to apply the brake in order to release the jammed throttle.  The system will release the throttle automatically, when the sensors in the car detect that the brake pedal has been activated.  The system will be designed for cars with electronic throttle control, which depend on computerized sensors to link the gas pedal to the engine.