CHP Urges Teen Drivers to Attend Safe Teen Driving Program

The California Highway Patrol is encouraging teen drivers to attend the agency’s week-long program which aims to educate teens about safe driving.

The CHP’s Start Smart Class is a program providing knowledge about safe driving not only to teenage drivers at ages fifteen to nineteen alone, but also to teens’ parents and guardians.

The class is set to kick-off 6 p.m. Monday and will only take 2-hours a day. Venue is at River Springs Charter School, 43040 Margarita Road in Temecula.

Techniques in avoiding vehicle accident, factors affecting traffic collisions, teen drivers and parent liabilities, and proper use of safety gears like seatbelts and airbags will be discussed by CHP officers during the class. Furthermore, several officers who have investigated fatal vehicle accidents involving teen drivers, and family members who have lost their love ones from road mishaps, will be providing a few statements.

One of CHP’s spokespersons, Nathan Baer, said that the program will help newly- and future licensed teen drivers to become more aware with the responsibilities that go with the privileges of having a driver’s license.

Reservations are not required to attend the class. Therefore, those who want to join the class wouldn’t get intimated with the reservation and registration process.

Teen drivers only represent 4% of California’s licensed drivers. However, during vehicle accidents, 66% of fatal collisions involve teen drivers and most often, they are found to be at fault. In fact, the major cause of death among Americans ages fifteen to twenty is vehicle accidents. 

Probably the most painful part of one’s life is to lose or to see their loved ones hurt due to such occurrences, which can actually be avoided with proper knowledge and precautions. Therefore, a Los Angeles personal injury attorney appreciates CHP’s efforts in pursuing to educate teen drivers in avoiding vehicle accidents since younger generations are more vulnerable to car accidents than adults.

Woman Involved in a Single Vehicle Accident Refuses Help

A woman who rammed her car into a building in Boyle Heights tried to refuse help coming from the people who witnessed the single accident on Tuesday morning.

According to reports, the woman was driving with a rate of speed of 60 to 80 mph when the car she was driving rammed into a building east of downtown Los Angeles.

Witnesses said that the woman sped fast while driving in Boyle Avenue, swerved onto the other side of the street, and went over the curb, causing the car to ram into the Enki Youth and Family Services Building.  

One of the witnesses stated that he and his friend were the first ones who responded and helped the woman, but the woman seemed unwelcome to the help they extended to her. The woman allegedly even yelled at her rescuers and tried to piss them off.

Respondents further stated that they had to dig the woman to free her from the wrecked car and the woman even tried to run. Therefore, respondents had to detain the woman until the police arrived.

Although witnesses speculated that the woman had a medical condition that may caused her impairment, authorities are still determining the main cause of the accident. Alcohol was also suspected as a factor to the incident. Nevertheless, the woman was transported to the nearest hospital as a precautionary measure even though there was no apparent sign of personal injury on her.

Meanwhile, the building is being restricted from unauthorized persons until the premise was declared safe.

Allegedly the woman was not arrested probably due to the absence of a complaint since nobody sustained injury from the single car accident. But, she would definitely be required to pay for damages incurred by the incident. If that will be the case, she may no longer need to obtain the services of a vehicle accident lawyer to assist her in bringing out a defense for her actions.

California Likely to Become First State to Make Unemployed a Protected Class

Once a bill has been approved, the Golden State is likely to be the first state in the country to make unemployed a protected class.   

The move is an attempt to reduce the growing problem of the state regarding employment discrimination.

A recent bill filed in Sacramento was recently given the go signal by the Assembly Judiciary Committee (AJC). The proposed legislation aims to turn an applicants’ employment status into a protected class when it comes to discrimination during job interviews.
On Tuesday, a 7-3 decision by the AJC in favor of Assembly bill 1450 officially cleared and gave it the green signal for proper action by the Assembly Appropriations Committee. However, a hearing date is still pending.

The bill, which was drafted by Assemblyman Michael Allen, D-San Rafael, would illegalize listing of current employment as a requirement in job advertisements. The bill likewise will treat employers’ hiring decisions based on the applicant’s status of employment as unlawful.

Allen also revealed that ads from several websites, such as Craiglist and Careerbuilder.com, requiring current employment in order to qualify for the job had led him to propose the bill.

Meanwhile, as expected, several group of employers voiced their objections to the bill. They claim that asking the applicant’s job history is a very significant part of a job interview process. Therefore, once the bill has been approved into law, employers would be vulnerable to employment discrimination penalties.

Oregon and New Jersey in fact passed the same legislation prohibiting employment status in job advertisements. However, California would become the first state to make the unemployed a protected class when it finally signs the bill into law.

Once this legislation passed, it would definitely affect how job interviews are conducted. On the other hand, the bill would provide the unemployed with greater employment opportunities.

Employment discrimination may actually arise from the time an employee steps on the company’s premises for a job interview. Exposing employers to discrimination penalties would eventually mean draining resources for them in the future. Therefore, it is no longer surprising why they aren’t in favor of the bill. 

Condominium Complex Home Owners Association Sued for Resident’s Wrongful Death

A condominium complex’s Home Owners Association is being sued for wrongful death by the daughter of a tenant who was killed by her husband in their own unit.

Last April 10, Marlene Martinez filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Glenoaks Townhomes home owners association before the office of Los Angeles Superior Court following the death of her 33–year-old mother, Olga Martinez.

The older Martinez was stabbed to death by her husband, Napoleon E. Castro, 36. Based on the investigation, she was found prostrating in her own blood at the garage entrance of the complex in 11150 Glenoaks Blvd.

The Aberdeen Management Co. and the Centurion Security Inc. that provided security service to the condominium complex were also named in the lawsuit. Martinez’s daughter is seeking for unspecified compensatory damages in her lawsuit.

In her lawsuit, Martinez’s daughter claimed that the homeowners association, as well as the other accused, knew right from the very start that Martinez had a restraining order against her husband and that the latter posed threat to her mother. 

Marlene Martinez further stated in her lawsuit that the accused were supposedly to provide security in the gated housing community and restrict unauthorized visitors. Apparently, the accused breached their duty by allowing Castro to enter the building.

The murder suspect is a native of El Salvador and has worked in the construction industry. The FBI described Castro as a man with multiple tattoos and was known to use several aliases such as Luis Sanchez, Juan Flores, Napoleon Edvardo Castro, and Napoleon Edwardo Castro with varying birthdates as June 10, 1975, June 7, 1975, and Oct. 10, 1975.

Castro is no longer a stranger to the FBI since he was a fugitive and was considered armed and dangerous. Castro was known to have ties in Worcester, Massachusetts, and El Salvador.

Castro is also known as “Napo”, meaning “trouble”. He is charged with murder and torture in Los Angeles Superior Court. The special circumstance allegations of murder involving the infliction of torture and lying in wait were involved in the murder charges, and such could make him eligible for the death penalty once he became convicted.

To avoid further prosecution, Castro was charged with unlawful flight in the US District Court in downtown Los Angeles and a federal warrant of arrest was also issued in.

In the said wrongful death claim, the complainant obviously has all the right to file for a claim since the accused clearly failed to provide a level of security within the said premises. However, the parties accused will definitely try to go to great extents to defend themselves. As a result, Martinez’s daughter must need to be sure that she will get the very best wrongful death attorneys in Los Angeles possible for her claim.