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It’s fireworks — and wildfire — season in California, and Pasadena firefighters aren’t taking any chances. They sprayed four tons of fire retardant on brushy areas of the Arroyo Seco and San Rafael hills around the Rose Bowl on Wednesday.

•   The Rose Bowl hosts the biggest fireworks display in Southern California, with 30,000 spectators inside the stadium and another 60,000 in the surrounding areas.

•   Conditions are hot and dry this year, so fire danger is very high.

•   The Pasadena Fire Department sprayed 40 tons of Phos-Chek fire retardant in the area surrounding the stadium.

•   Phos-Check is made from fertilizer and will not harm people, pets or the environment.

The preventive measure is in preparation for the July 4 fireworks show at the Rose Bowl, which is the largest in Southern California, according to an NBC News report. About 30,000 people are expected to watch the show at the stadium, with another 60,000 taking in the view from the surrounding area.

With that many people — plus dry conditions and temperatures in the 90s — firefighters must be vigilant about safety precautions. The concern, of course, is that fireworks could spark a major fire in the dry brush around the stadium.

“The flashy fuels, as we call them, could take off in short order and catch fire in the trees,” Pasadena fire chief Dennis Downs told NBC.

Crews are spraying the area with Phos-Chek, the same fire retardant firefighters spray from planes to keep wildfires in check. Fire department spokesperson Lisa Derderian said  Phos-Check is a fertilizer mixture. It is not harmful to people, pets or the enivroment.

Don’t Use Fireworks at Home:

Everybody loves to watch fireworks, but they can be extremely dangerous. Last year about 8,600 people were treated in emergency rooms for fireworks-related injuries, according to the U.S. Fire Administration. Three-quarters of these injuries occurred in the weeks around the Fourth of July.

*  65 percent were to males and 35 percent were to females.
*  Children under 15 years old accounted for 40 percent of the estimated injuries.
*  Children and young adults under 20 years old had 53 percent of the estimated injuries.
*  An estimated 900 injuries were associated with firecrackers.
*  An estimated 1,200 injuries were associated with sparklers and 400 with bottle rockets.
*  The parts of the body most often injured were hands and fingers (30 percent), legs (22 percent), eyes (21 percent), and head, face, and ears (16 percent).
*  More than half of the injuries were burn injuries.

The only way to be truly safe with fireworks is to not light them yourself. Watch public displays put on by pyrotechnic professionals.

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have been representing burn injury victims for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

A 22-year-old man was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced on Tuesday to 26 years to life in prison for a July 2009 fatal DUI crash in Santa Clarita. He drove into a group of cyclists, killing one of them.

•   A 20-year-old drunk driver with two prior underage DUI convictions slammed into a group of cyclists and killed one of them in July 2009.

•   In April 2011, a jury found him guilty of second-degree murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, leaving the scene of an accident and driving under the influence causing injury.

•   On Tuesday, a judge sentenced the young man to 26 years to life in prison.

San Fernando Superior Court Judge Daniel Feldstern handed down the sentence to 22-year-old Marco Antonio Valencia of Canyon Country (just outside of Santa Clarita — see map at left).

Valencia was on probation for two underage drunk driving convictions at the time of the deadly bicycle accident two years ago, according to a report in the Los Angeles Daily News.

He was 20 years old and drunk when he drove his Ford F-150 pickup truck into a pack of four cyclists on Bouquet Canyon Road in the Santa Clarita hills at 11 a.m. on July 11, 2009.

The impact threw 43-year-old Joseph Novotny of Stevenson Ranch 20 feet in the air, a witness said in court. He died at the scene.

Valencia didn’t even stop. A witness said Valencia’s truck drove on, “weaving up the road for several miles, crossing over into the opposite lane, running into a chain-link fence, and nearly sideswiping a car,” according to the Daily News.

The California Highway Patrol found and arrested Valenica an hour and a half later. His blood alcohol level was tested another hour and a half later. It was 0.17 — more than twice the legal limit — three hours after the crash. Officials extrapolated that his blood alcohol level was 0.23 — three times the legal limit — when he drove into the group of cyclists.

The defense attorney said during the trial that Valencia may have been clinically unconscious at the time of the crash and thus could be guilty only of involuntary manslaughter, according to report in the Santa Clarita Valley Signal. But the jury found Valencia guilty of second-degree murder.

They also convicted him on charges of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, leaving the scene of an accident and driving under the influence causing injury.

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented drunk driving accident victims for 35 years.  The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

Three people were killed when a Walmart big-rig crashed into their truck on Highway 57 in San Dimas. (Photo: LA Times)

Three people were killed in a truck accident early Saturday when a Walmart big-rig slammed into their disabled pickup truck at full speed on Highway 57 in San Dimas.

•   A man was driving home from an Indian casino with his wife and two sisters-in-law when his pickup truck got a flat tire on the freeway.

•   A Walmart big-rig didn’t realize the pickup truck had slowed down and slammed into it at 55 mph.

•   The three women were killed on impact. The pickup truck burst into flames, but the driver was able to escape.

•   The big-rig driver wasn’t injured.

The fatal freeway crash occurred at about 2:45 a.m., according to an ABC News report.

California Highway Patrol officer Steve Licon said it all started with a flat tire. Martin Ortiz was driving a Nissan pickup truck southbound on Highway 57 when one of his tires went flat. He slowed dow, turned on his emergency blinkers, and was attempting to pull over to the shoulder near Auto Center Drive when a Walmart tractor-trailer slammed into him from behind.

The big-rig driver said he did not realize that Ortiz had slowed down. The semi truck was traveling at a speed of 55 mph when it rear-ended the pickup truck, according to a report in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.

The impact dislodged the fuel tank and the truck burst into flames.

“The frame of the Nissan pick-up truck bend downwards and it compromised the fuel tank, fuel spilled out onto the roadway, and that fuel was ignited from the frame and the fuel tank striking the roadway,” Licon said.

Ortiz escaped from the burning truck, but his three passengers — including his wife of 20 years, Marabel Solis — had been killed on impact.

“I didn’t know what to think,” Ortiz said in Spanish in an ABC News video interview. “I’m very sad and depressed. The truth is, my life is going to be very different. My wife was everything to me.”

The other two women who died in the accident were his sister-in-laws,  Josefina Ortiz and Alejandra Alvarez. Ortiz and the three women were driving home from the San Manuel Indian casino in Highland, a little over 40 miles away.

The 25-year-old big-rig driver was not injured.

Officials closed Highway 57 in both directions, along with portions of Interstate 210 that lead to the 57 transition roads, for several hours.

Both drivers were released from the scene without citations or arrests. The accident is still under investigation.

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented truck accident victims and their families for 35 years.  The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

Two nursing home residents died after a car crashed into the Amberwood Gardens facility Saturday morning in San Jose. The 90-year-old driver apparently mistook the gas pedal for the brake.

•    A 90-year-old woman went to a nursing home to visit family members. She pulled into a parking spot in front of the building and accidentally hit the gas pedal instead of the brake.

•    The vehicle jumped the concrete parking block, lurched between two trees, smashed through a plate glass window, and went barreling into an exercise room, striking several residents.

•    Two residents died and five others were injured.

The fatal accident occurred at about 9:45 a.m., according to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle.

An elderly driver who was visiting a family member in the skilled nursing facility pulled her car into a handicapped parking spot directly in front of a wall with a large window.

She drove the vehicle up to the cement parking block and then apparently hit the gas pedal, thinking it was the brake.

The vehicle suddenly jumped over the parking block, lurched between two small trees and crashed through the wall into the exercise room, nursing home director Stephen Hooker told the San Jose Mercury News.

About a dozen people were in the room, getting ready for a seated exercise class to begin. Activity leader Eric Chin was shocked when the car suddenly smashed through the plate glass window and came barreling into the room.

“I turned around and saw this car in the room 10 feet from me,” Chin said. “You could hear glass breaking. A whole chunk of wall was gone. It was scary.”

The residents — most of whom have Alzheimer’s Disease or other forms of dementia — were seated in wheelchairs, and were not able to move out of the way. Five of them suffered minor injuries, and two died.

San Jose Police Sgt. Jason Dwyer said 88-year-old Esther Bocanegra died Saturday. He said 100-year-old Suzanne Infante suffered major injuries but initially was expected to survive. Due to her age, however, she was unable to recover from the trauma. She died Sunday.

San Jose Fire Department spokesperson Mary Gutierrez said all of the residents were evacuated for about an hour while the structure was evaluated for safety. The accident was extremely traumatic for residents, who have dementia. Hooker said both residents and the staff were “just devastated.” He brought in a psychologist on Sunday to help them through the trauma and grief.

Some family members blamed the facility for putting parking spots directly in front of plate glass windows, but a fire department spokesman said he did not believe that was a serious safety issue.

Officials ruled out drugs and alcohol as factors in the tragic accident.

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented car accident victims for 35 years.  The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

Fatal workplace accident: A 54-year-old Chevron worker died Tuesday when the ground caved in beneath him and he was sucked into a sinkhole at an oil field construction site near Taft, about 40 miles southwest of Bakersfield.

•    Four workers were walking on a Chevron oil field when the ground gave way beneath one of them.

•    The man was immediately sucked into the sinkhole. His coworkers tried to rescue him but they were not able to hang on to him as he was literally swallowed by the hole.

•    It took rescue workers more than 17 hours to retrieve the man’s dead body because the ground was dangerously unstable.

•    Cal/OSHA said Chevron had no indication that a sinkhole was developing.

The deadly construction site accident occurred at about 10:50 a.m., according to a report in the Taft Midway Driller.

Kern County Fire Department spokesman Sean Collins said the worker — later identified as 54-year-old Dave Taylor — was walking with coworkers in the Midway Sunset oil field near entrance 20 of Midoil Road when the accident occurred.

Witnesses told the Midway Driller that Taylor’s coworkers heard him yell, but when they turned to look, all they could see was his hard hat on the ground. He had been sucked into a sinkhole.

“The land literally gave way beneath him,” Collins said.

The other workers tried to rescue Taylor, but he slipped out of their reach. They ran and called for help. Firefighters and paramedics rushed to the scene, but there was nothing they could do. Walker had disappeared into the hole.

Rescue workers searched for more than 17 hours and finally were able to retrieve Taylor’s body on Wednesday, according to a KGET News report. The search was slow because the ground was so unstable and therefore dangerous for rescue crews.

“We did not know what was below the surface, so for the safety of those involved in the recovery process it took awhile to make sure that that area was safe,” Chevron spokeswoman Carla Musser said.

After the crew had successfully retrieved Taylor’s body, they were able to learn more about the sinkhole. They found that the fluid was residual from steam and hot water.

In that area, oil formations can be very shallow, the Taft-Midway Driller reported. Oil sometimes seeps at the surface and steam also comes out of the ground in places, people familiar with the area told the newspaper. Massive amounts of steam are used to loosen the thick Midway Sunset crude and make it easier to pump from the ground.

Musser said Chevron had never experienced that kind of an accident before. Officials from the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) came to the site to investigate.

“This was not a known hazard,” Cal/OSHA spokesman Dean Fryer said. “There was no indication that a sinkhole was developing there. No one knew about this.” The safety agency said there were no apparent violations but the investigation would probably continue for about a month.

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented workplace accident victims and their families for 35 years.  The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

Forget the legal blood alcohol limit. A new University of California study of 1.5 million fatal accidents over a 15-year period determined that no amount of alcohol safe for drivers.

•   U.C. San Diego researchers examined FARS data and discovered that a blood alcohol concentration as low as 0.01 percent — less than half a bottle of beer for most adults — can impair drivers and cause severe accidents.

•   They found that drivers with even a slight “buzz” were more likely to speed, to not wear seat belts properly, and to be driving the vehicle that crashes into others.

•   The researchers concluded that the U.S. blood alcohol concentration threshold of 0.08 percent is far too high.

The U.S. threshold for drunk driving is 0.08 percent alcohol in the bloodstream, but U.C. San Diego researcher David Phillips said even 0.01 percent — less than half a bottle of beer — increases the odds of a deadly car accident, according to a report in the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Phillips and co-author Kimberly Brewer published the findings of their study in the June issue of Addiction, a journal of the Society for the Study of Addiction to Alcohol and other Drugs.

The researchers were “initially startled” by their own findings, Phillips told ABC News, ”but then we discovered that people with such a low level of alcohol were behaving differently from sober drivers.”

Their research showed that, compared to sober drivers, “buzzed” drivers were significantly more likely to speed, not wear a seat belt or fasten it improperly, and to be driving the vehicle that crashes into another one.

These occur with any alcohol use at all, and worsen proportionately with increased alcohol consumption. The more alcohol people consume, the faster they drive — and the more severe the accidents and injuries they cause.

The researchers based their findings on official data from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). The data includes information on all persons in the U.S. who were involved in fatal car accidents – 1,495,667 people from 1994 to 2008. The data reports blood-alcohol content in increments of 0.01 percent.

All accidents reported by FARS are severe because they involve fatalities. The researchers compared other injuries involved as well, so they could look at the degree of severity.

“Accidents are 36.6 percent more severe even when alcohol was barely detectable in a driver’s blood,” Phillips said. Even with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.01 percent — half a bottle of beer — there are 4.33 serious injuries for every non-serious injury, as opposed to 3.17 for sober drivers. And it gets worse with every drink.

Phillips and Brewer concluded that even the tiniest concentration of alcohol is unsafe for driving — and they want the legal limit to be lowered.

“It could save lives, prevent serious injuries and reduce financial and social costs associated with motor vehicle accidents,” Phillips said.

Most other countries have considerably lower legal limits than the U.S. threshold. Brazil and Russia are among a host of countries with zero tolerance — it’s against the law to take even a sip of beer before getting behind the wheel. Sweden, China, the Netherlands and Puerto Rico are among those that set the limit at 0.02 percent, and Japan and India are among those with a limit of 0.03 percent. Several other countries — and some U.S. states, like Colorado — set the limit at 0.05 percent.

Phillips noted that legal limits and punishments are often established on the basis of cultural beliefs as much or more than on scientific data. Looking at the FARS figures and doing the math, there was only one conclusion Phillips and Brewer could reach: Even the slightest buzz can kill.

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented drunk driving accident victims and their families for 35 years.  The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

Deadly truck accident: A wrong-way driver was killed when she slammed head-on into a big-rig on I-10. (Photo: KPSP News)

Fatal truck accident: A woman who was driving the wrong way on Interstate 10 apparently died instantly Tuesday when her car slammed head-on into a big-rig and burst into flames near Palm Desert.

•  A woman drove her car down an I-10 off-ramp and entered the freeway traveling the wrong direction. She was driving west on the eastbound side of the freeway.

•  Before CHP officers were able to get to her, she crashed into an oncoming big-rig.

• Both vehicles burst into flames and burned to a crisp.

•  The woman died instantly. The truck driver and his passenger escaped unharmed.

The freeway crash occurred at about 3:45 a.m., according to a KPSP News report.

California Highway Patrol officer Joe Zagorski said the woman was driving a Honda Accord west in the eastbound No. 3 lane of I-10 the freeway when the accident occurred.

A newspaper delivery driver saw the woman drive onto the freeway, the wrong direction, on an offramp.

“I slowed down, but it came down the ramp, and I flashed my lights at (her) and honked my horn and (she) just kept coming,” Wes Furlong told the Desert Sun. Other drivers also saw the Accord headed in the wrong direction and reported it to police.

CHP officers immediately went searching for the wrong-way vehicle. Before they reached the Accord, it slammed head-on into an oncoming big-rig just west of Washington Street. Both vehicles immediately burst into flames.

The driver of the Accord died almost instantly. The truck driver, 41-year-old Raul Santiago of Ontario, and his passenger, 44-year-old Oliver Obannon of La Quinta, both escaped unharmed.

Both vehicles were burnt to a crisp. The truck was hauling a load of paper and electronic supplies. All of it was completely destroyed in the fire. The driver of the Accord could not be identified. Officials from the Riverside County Coroner’s Office said they had determined only that the driver was a woman and would continue the process of identifying her.

“The vehicle burned for 30 minutes, so we have to rely on the coroner for a lot of things, including identity,” Zagorski said.

The freeway was closed for almost 11 hours while Caltans and hazardous material crews cleared the scene. Neither the body nor the vehicles could be moved until the coroner made a preliminary investigation.

Zagorski said it would take several weeks to get toxicology test results and to complete the investigation into the cause of the accident. Until that time, authorities do not know whether drugs or alcohol were involved.

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented truck accident victims and their families for 35 years.  The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

A San Jose medical marijuana dispensary owner was seriously injured in a solo car accident Friday when a 15-year-old boy drove their SUV off of a highway flyover near Gilroy. Both the teen and the pot club owner were high on pot at the time of the accident.

•   A pot club owner was riding in an SUV driven by an unlicensed 15-year-old. Both were under the influence of marijuana.

•   The teen drove the SUV off the side of the highway and crashed into a tree.

•   Both of the pot club owner’s legs were broken. He was airlifted to a hospital and arrested for possession of illegal drugs and paraphernalia and for being under the influence at the time of the crash.

•   The teen wasn’t injured. He was arrested for driving under the influence and booked into juvenile hall.

The highway crash occurred at about 1:30 p.m., according to a report in the Gilroy Dispatch.

California Highway Patrol officer Jaime Rios said the 49-year-old pot club owner, Steven T. Gonzales of San Jose, was a passenger in a 2004 Lexus RX330 driven by a 15-year-old boy whose name was not released because he is a minor.

The teen — who is not old enough to get a drivers license — was driving the Lexus SUV east on Highway 156. When he approached the flyover at Highway 152, the boy drove off of the highway and onto a dirt shoulder for unknown reasons. He crashed the vehicle into a fence.

Both of Gonzales’ legs were broken in the accident. He was airlifted to Regional Medical Center in San Jose to be treated and was later arrested for possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, and being under the influence of illegal drugs at the time of the crash.

Police found business cards in the man’s wallet indicating he owns a marijuana dispensary in San Jose and is an executive of a company called Hemp Fusion.

The teen driver did not appear to be injured but was taken to Saint Louise Regional Hospital in Gilroy to be examined. Police then arrested him on felony DUI charges and booked him into juvenile hall. The 15-year-old also lives in San Jose. His relationship to the pot dispensary owner was not stated.

Drugged driving is a major problem.

In the 2007 National Roadside Survey, more than seven times as many weekend nighttime drivers tested positive for drugs than for alcohol. Of the 16 percent that tested positive for drugs — compared to 2 percent at or above the legal limit for alcohol — half tested positive for marijuana.

It is illegal to drive under the influence of drugs — including marijuana — in California. It does not matter if the drug was prescribed for medical use.

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented car accident victims for 35 years.  The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

A drunk driver plowed into a large group of cyclists, injuring 11 people. (Photo: Culver City Patch)

Eleven people were injured — some of them suffered catastrophic injuries — when a drunk driver looked down at her cell phone and plowed into a group of 100 cyclists early Thursday in Culver City. At least two of the victims were listed in critical condition.

•   A suspected drunk driver who was speeding and talking on her cell phone drove into a large group of cyclists and injured at least 11 of them.

•   Nine of the cyclists were hospitalized with serious injuries. Two of them were in critical condition.

•   The driver was arrested for misdemeanor driving under the influence and was released on $15,000 bail.

The gruesome bicycle accident was reported at 1:49 a.m., the Los Angeles Daily News reported.

Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Lyle Knight said a white Honda Civic driven by 27-year-old Christine Elizabeth Dahab crashed into a group of about 100 cyclists  in the 5900 block of West Jefferson Place. The cyclists are part of a group that gets together once a week to ride late at night when there is little or no traffic.

The cyclists had ridden from Westlake and were stopped on the side of the road in front of the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook. Some of them had gotten off of their bikes, so technically they were pedestrians, LAPD bicycle liaison officer David Krumer told ABC News.

Several of the cyclists said Dahab was driving about 60 mph and was using a cell phone at the time of the crash. Culver City Police Sgt. Mike Poulin told the Los Angeles Times it is common for motorists to exceed the speed limit on that stretch of road.

One of the cyclists saw the Honda coming and warned others to get out of the bike lane and up on the sidewalk. The car briefly slowed down a little but then it sped up even faster, jumped the curb, and plowed into the group.

Some cyclists were thrown off their bikes and went flying into the air, while at least one rider was dragged under Dahab’s car. Cyclists were scattered everywhere — on the ground, on top of the car, underneath the car — when the vehicle finally came to a halt.

At least 11 cyclists were injured. Two of them sustained relatively minor injuries; the other nine were hospitalized with serious injuries. Two of them were reportedly in critical condition. One was in a coma.

A 16-year-old girl sustained a shattered jaw, elbow and pelvis, and broken legs. A man had a broken nose, jaw and leg. A woman had two broken legs and a separated shoulder.

Dahab was booked on a charge of misdemeanor drunk driving and released on $15,000 bail.

The accident is still under investigation.

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented bicycle accident victims for 35 years.  The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

Windy conditions caused two big-rig crashes that closed Highway 111 near Palm Springs. (Photos: KPSP News)

High winds caused at least five big-rig crashes on desert highways Thursday. The California Highway Patrol had to close Highway 111 at the junction of Interstate 10 near Palm Springs for four hours.

•   Winds gusted up to 53 mph on Southern California desert freeways Thursday, causing at least five big-rig crashes.

•  Two big-rigs — one southbound and one northbound — crashed on windy Highway 111 early in the morning.

•   Three other big-rigs crashed in high winds on Highway 86S in Coachella in the afternoon.

•   The crashes prompted the National Weather Service to issue a wind advisory through Saturday afternoon.

The first two highway accidents occurred shortly before 6 a.m., according to a report in the Desert Sun.

CHP officer Joe Zagorski said two big-rigs crashed on Highway 111 in Whitewater, about 10 miles northwest of Palm Springs. Both of the trucks were vulnerable to wind because they were hauling empty or light loads.

“They have a huge profile and no weight holding them down,” Zagorski said.

One of the big-rigs was a nortbound UPS truck with two empty trailers. The other was a southbound truck carrying about 10,000 pounds of auto parts.

Both trucks overturned on the highway. One of them was blocking almost the entire road. No one was seriously injured, but officials closed Highway 111 for four hours while they cleared the debris and moved the trucks. That highway is particularly dangerous for trucks and trailers because of its orientation and turns, Zagorski said.

“The side of the vehicle is exposed to the wind on 111, especially as it comes closer to Interstate 10. That makes it a huge issue,” he said. “On I-10, you’re driving directly into (the wind) or directly away from it.”

Later Thursday, three big-rigs and five vehicles crashed in gusty winds on Highway 86S near Avenue 52 in Coachella, about 35 miles southeast of the Highway 111 accident. Six people were injured in that accident, which occurred shortly after 5 p.m.

The crashes prompted the National Weather Service to issue a wind advisory for the area, warning that winds near the Banning Pass would continue through Saturday, with gusts from 30 to 40 mph.

Zagorski told KPSP News wind-related big-rig accidents often involve other vehicles, as they did in Coachella.

“If you’re not paying attention and you’re surprised by something in front of your vehicle, if you suddenly turn the wheel to avoid it you’ll probably spin out and lose control,” Zagorski said.

The best thing a driver can do is to drive defensively, he said. Watch your speed, keep both hands on the wheel, and make sure you leave plenty of distance between your vehicle and other vehicles in front of you.

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented truck accidentvictims and their families for 35 years.  The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.