A recently released study revealed that deaths from car crashes rose considerably across California between 2018 and 2022, and data indicates that many of the deadly collisions occurred on SoCal roadways. 

According to a report by ConsumerAffairs, there was a 17% increase in car crash deaths between 2018 and 2022 despite the Golden State’s population declining during that same period.  

“During the pandemic, we saw more of those dangerous driving behaviors,” California Office of Traffic Safety deputy director of marketing and public affairs Timothy Weisberg told ConsumerAffairs. “It’s a crisis that needs to be reversed.” 

Much of that can be attributed to California roads being less congested during the pandemic which caused some motorists to drive faster, traffic safety experts noted, adding that DUI crashes also made up for at least a quarter of deaths on Golden State roadways in both 2018 and 2022.

“Drinking while driving and speeding are much more prevalent in some California counties than others…on average, by county, speeding and drinking were involved in around 28 and 25 percent of fatalities, respectively, between 2018 and 2022,” ConsumerAffairs researchers stated. “Speeding is a much more common factor in fatal crashes in California’s more rural, less populated counties.”

Overall, the deadliest road in all of California is the 5 Freeway with 128 deaths in 2022, which is down from the 150 deaths reported in 2018, researchers found. 

When broken down by county, San Bernardino County ranked as the deadliest for drivers, registering nearly 20 fatalities per 100,000 people in 2022. 

This aligns with ConsumerAffairs’ conclusion on the deadliest stretch of roadway in the state: I-15 through San Bernardino County, where an astonishing 48 people died in 2022, an increase of 15 compared to 2018. 

Of the ten deadliest roads in the Golden State, six are located in SoCal. They can be viewed in the table below: 

KTLA 5’s Annie Rose Ramos interviewed several drivers on Tuesday morning; one woman told her that there’s only one thing you can do when you see a speeding driver.

“There are crazy people out there that may be busy or in a hurry and they’re going fast,” the woman, only identified as Lisa, told Ramos. “Get out of the way…that’s the only thing you can do.”

In an attempt to bring an end to the deadly trend, the California Office of Traffic Safety has teamed up with Caltrans to launch the Go Safely California education program, which promotes a “safety culture” on Golden State roadways. 

Safety tips for motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists can be found here.  

The full ConsumerAffairs report, which includes more data on factors such as impairment and when crashes occur on an hourly, daily and monthly basis, can be read here.

In a span of just six and half hours, two Los Angeles Metro buses were the focus of dangerous and scary situations Monday.  

The first incident happened at around 3:15 a.m. when a Metro bus full of passengers near West Olympic and Flower Street downtown was overrun by people gathered for a street takeover involving an estimated 50 vehicles.  

According to the bus operator, the mob of individuals shot fireworks at the bus and left it covered in graffiti.  

There were also reports that the same group “tagged” a nearby building and attempted to break into a Starbucks on 9^th and Flower before eventually being dispersed by officers with the Los Angeles Police department.  

It is unclear if any arrests were made. There were also no reports of injuries.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson, president of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable said that law enforcement needs to step up where the continued problem of street takeovers are concerned.

“You’re tasked with protecting citizens, it’s your job,” he told KTLA’s Carlos Saucedo. “You got to crack down, got to stop it. We’ve called repeatedly for the creation of a permanent joint taskforce – LAPD, LASD and state officials – to come in. In other words, to monitor, ID, impound and arrest. 

Not long after that incident, at 9:45 a.m., deputies with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department surrounded a Metro bus at Los Feliz and San Fernando roads in Glendale on reports of an armed passenger.  

Authorities said that all the passengers on the bus had exited when the bus operator, who was wrapping up his shift, noticed a passenger slumped over, reportedly sleeping, in his seat with a gun.  

Responding SWAT teams were able to watch the man by viewing Metro’s real-time surveillance cameras inside the bus while they used a bullhorn to get the suspect to wake up. 

The suspect was eventually taken into custody at 11:45 a.m. without incident and a firearm was recovered at the scene.

“He woke up,” Deputy Lucas Darland said. “It was not a violent situation or confrontation at all.”  

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority has been plagued by recent violence, including several incidents of people killed on buses or trains.  

In May, Metro bus operators staged a “sick out” impacting several bus lines to draw attention to what they were calling a safety crisis.  

Late in June, L.A. Metro board members voted to move forward with a five-year transition to establish a “Transit Community Public Safety Department.”  

Currently, Metro, who used to have its own version of a transit police force between 1978 and 1997, contracts with LAPD, LASD and Long Beach PD for security, though officials at the transportation authority have been critical of the law enforcement personnel hired to provide safety resources to riders.  

Three prison inmates are accused of attacking and killing a 24-year-old Los Angeles man at Kern Valley State Prison last month, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Officials say three inmates allegedly attacked Dwight Gibbs, a 24-year-old incarcerated man, at about 8:06 p.m. on June 28. Prison employees quickly broke up the attack, but Gibbs was treated for his injuries and transported to a local hospital, where he died about one hour later.

Gibbs was serving a 41 year sentence for attempted second-degree murder as a second striker with enhancements of inflicting great bodily injury and use of a firearm. He was incarcerated at Kern Valley in January 2023.

Three men — 55-year-old Michael Brown, 63-year-old Jerry Dunham and 61-year-old Rex Dickey — were each placed in restricted housing. Their fates will await completion of a homicide investigation.

Officers found three prison-made weapons at the scene of the attack.

Brown was convicted on first-degree murder charges in 1997. Both Dunham and Dickey have been convicted for assault as inmates.

There was no immediate word on a possible motive.