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Arnold Schwarzenegger has proclaimed May 2009 as “Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month.” This bit of information was brought to our attention from an article in the San Francisco Examiner. The article states: An increase in motorcycle use by inexperienced riders is being blamed for the bump in accidents involving the two-wheeled vehicles on city streets. It further points out that there has also been an increase in motorcycle accidents during the past several years. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has, as part of its safety campaign, declared that May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month. On a national level, according to NHTSA’s statistics, motorcycle accident injuries and deaths have been on the rise since the late 1990’s. Also according to the NHTSA, the majority of fatal motorcycle accidents happen on non-interstate roads. And statistics from the Department of Motor vehicles reveal motorcycle registration in San Francisco went from 17,611 to 19,417 from 2004-2007. This increase of motorcycle use can explain the rise in accidents-since most new riders are usually inexperienced.

The real problem here is not that too many motorcycles make our roads unsafe but rather that too many inexperienced riders make our roads unsafe. So, just as Arnold Schwarzenegger points out, every person who gets on a motorcycle needs to take the proper steps to stay safe. As part of his proclamation he shares that our state offers the California Motorcyclist Safety Program, which has trained many inexperienced motorcycle riders. Here at the Brod Law Firm, we would like to share with our readers additional information, provided by NHTSA, for motorists and motorcyclists to help motorcycle riders stay safe. Some safety tips for motorists are:

1. Respect motorcyclists-remember that motorcyclists have the same rights and privileges as other vehicles on the road;

Recently, San Francisco’s MUNI released a revised budget proposal for the 2009-2010 fiscal year that calls for eliminating bus routes or sections of bus routes and cutting back on service and jobs, in an attempt to get out of the $129 million budget deficit. MUNI has proposed three options for eliminating routes and segments of routes and reducing service. Option 3, the hardest hitting, would allow for a 6.3 percent reduction in service hours-ultimately saving muni $17.8million. They are also increasing the cost of services such as monthly passes, which will go into effect on July1st. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, city transportation officials warn that service may erode-which is what happened during a budget deficit in the mid-1990’s, when a shortage of drivers, maintenance workers, street supervisors and schedulers made for an unreliable system plagued by frequent breakdowns and missed runs, leading to widespread public anger and frustration.

So what will the result of eliminating routes and jobs, while raising the price of a monthly pass? Will MUNI become less reliable and erode just as predicted by city transportation officials. Perhaps regular MUNI riders will decide to bike around town, instead of relining on the bus-which would be a great way to offset some the inconvenience these cuts will no doubt induce. But if there are more bikes on the streets, and, because our city is not anywhere near being 100 percent bike friendly (i.e., the lack of a suffient number of bike lanes and aware drivers, etc.), then there will probably be more bicycle accidents. And if some regular MUNI riders decide to take to their cars, this will probably create more traffic, which will, in turn, produce more impatient drivers and a higher potential for injury accidents. And if the system does erode, then the safety of MUNI passengers might very well be compromised if the buses they ride are not properly maintained or if drivers become disgruntled and care less about looking out for their passengers. Here at the Brod Law Firm, we can’t help but see MUNI’s proposed budget cuts from fearful point of view. Over the past few years there have been too many accidents between buses and bikers and pedestrians, despite MUNI’s efforts to improve service. So we worry about the effect budget cuts will have on the citizens of San Francisco.

Text messaging is the new way millions of Americans communicate. The American Medical Association (AMA) voted this month to advocate for state legislation prohibiting the use of hand held devices used to text message while driving. An AMA board member, Peter Carmel says that texting while driving takes the driver’s attention off the roads, which leads to accidents. Here at the Brod Law Firm, we feel that fact is an obvious one, one that pretty much goes without saying. However, when Peter Carmel stated that text messaging while driving causes a 400 percent increase in time spent with eyes off the road, we felt that fact is a less obvious one, is one that all drivers should be aware of-mostly because it means our roads that much more unsafe while we share the road with texting drivers. Currently, seven states, California included, have bans on text messaging while driving because of the risk to public safety. The AMA says it will continue to support additional states in the mission to ban text messaging by motorists. We applaud the AMA and their efforts to keep the public safe from injury, as we know all too well of the inherent dangers that exist for drivers, and how a catastrophic or death related accident can happen in a split second after a driver takes their eyes off the road.

After we read the news regarding the AMA’s efforts to ban texting while driving, we felt it is not only drivers who text while driving that pose a health risk. We thought: what about walking and texting? While we support raising public awareness regarding issues of safety and text messaging while driving, we also feel it is important that public awareness is raised regarding pedestrian safety and texting while walking. Over the past year we have come across many articles relating to pedestrians being injured while texting. The American College of Emergency physicians issued alerts regarding these types of accidents . Most injuries related to texting and walking are minor, such as head injuries from bumping into poles or sprained ankles from twisting as they stepped off a curb. Some injuries, however, are quite serious or even deadly. For example, according to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, a San Francisco woman was killed earlier this year when she stepped off the curb while texting. We believe the message here is very clear: when you are mobile, please keep your eyes on where you are going, not on a hand-held device. Also, don’t underestimate how safe you feel while driving or walking. And lastly, accidents can occur out of nowhere –so the more alert you are while you are mobile, the better chance you have of not injuring yourself.