Los Angeles Personal Injury Attorney Blog
In 2015, the City of Los Angeles adopted Vision Zero following its implementation in multiple European cities. The city’s Vision Zero plan aimed to decrease traffic fatalities each year with the goal of eliminating all of them by 2025. Mayor Eric Garcetti announced an executive directive through which he committed the city to Vision Zero with the intention of reducing traffic death to zero by 2025 through a combination of infrastructure improvements and new policies. While the initiative initially showed promise with the city’s modifications of 18 traffic corridors to include protected left-turn signals and extended curbs, the traffic fatality statistics demonstrate that the impact of Vision Zero has not been as intended. Instead, traffic fatalities have increased since 2015 to reach a 20-year high of 289 people in Los Angeles in 2021. Similarly, other U.S. cities that have adopted Vision Zero programs have also seen increases in traffic fatalities, including New York City, Portland, Oregon, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
By contrast, European cities with similar programs have demonstrated a steady decline in traffic fatalities. For example, Helsinki, Finland, a city with a population the size of Las Vegas, Nevada, only had three traffic fatalities. By contrast, Las Vegas had 304 traffic fatalities that year despite having a Vision Zero program.
There are several reasons why Vision Zero has not worked as intended in the U.S. while it has been effective in Europe.
Employers are generally not liable for the negligent actions of their employees when the employees are traveling to or from work while off the clock. However, if an employer creates a risk of injury during the employee’s commute, and the employee then causes an accident as a result of that created risk, the employer might be liable. In 
Autonomous driving technology has been touted by manufacturers as a potential solution to the problems of serious motor vehicle collisions. As several manufacturers continue to test systems on the nation’s roadways, the likelihood of autonomous vehicles becoming available in the market has increased. However, this type of technology cannot prevent all accidents, and drivers who misuse semi-autonomous technology in their vehicles can cause serious accidents in which people can be injured or killed. A pending criminal case in California demonstrates the potential liability of motorists who are driving semi-autonomous vehicles and cause serious injury or fatality collisions. It also raises potential issues involving product liability.
With more than 
Speeding places everyone on the road at risk here in Los Angeles. According to data from the 
While gun-related deaths are a serious problem in California and the rest of the U.S., traffic accidents cause just as many deaths as guns each year. When you get behind the wheel of your vehicle, it is among the most dangerous things you might do on any given day. Car accidents kill tens of thousands of people in the U.S. each year and cause millions of others to suffer serious injuries.
As a nationally recognized personal injury attorney and 
In May 2020, Los Angeles implemented the 
Distracted driving is a very common cause of motor vehicle accidents in Los Angeles, California and across the U.S. People who allow themselves to be distracted by phones, text messages, emails, passengers, eating, electronics, and other things are dangerous to others sharing the roads with them. According to the 
When the lockdown orders were first issued in California in March 2020, there was a sharp decline in the number of traffic accidents because of the decrease in traffic. Following Mayor Garcetti’s shutdown orders in March,