Thread: OFFICE OF TRAFFIC SAFETY RANKS NORTH COUNTY (S.D. CA)

REGION: Office of Traffic Safety ranks North County cities

Standings help cities identify traffic safety problems

By SARAH GORDON - Staff Writer | Monday, October 27, 2008 10:21 AM PDT



Newly released statistics on traffic injury and fatality rates in 2007 highlight the differences in traffic safety among North County cities.

For example: Escondido ranked third among 52 similar-size cities in average injuries from alcohol-involved collisions per vehicle mile, according to the California Office of Traffic Safety.

Ranking high in this case is bad.

Carlsbad, on the other hand, did better, ranking 41st out of 52 in the same category.

The Office of Traffic Safety does not analyze the reasons why a city ranks low or high, said Michele Meadows, assistant director of operations.

The rankings are designed to help cities identify traffic safety problems and to help the state set priorities for doling out federal traffic safety grants, she said.

Escondido police Lt. Mike Loarie said that the department has been working to improve traffic safety with the help of Office of Traffic Safety grants, and has made recent strides in lowering its injuries by targeting unlicensed and drunken drivers and enforcing curfew laws.

He said collision rankings are not the best way to measure the city's progress.

The rankings are based on the number of people killed or injured in collisions each year and the daily average number of miles vehicles travel in the city.

The office also compiles DUI enforcement rankings, which are based on the percentage of licensed drivers arrested for DUI.

The rankings are crude because they do not take into account variables such as a city's demographics.

So while San Marcos ranks No. 3 out of 106 similar-size cities for injuries caused by drunken drivers under age 21, a traffic sergeant there last week questioned the ranking's significance.

Sgt. Cliston Hensley said he doesn't believe the city of about 81,000 residents has an unusually high rate of underage drinking.

But with two colleges, it has a lot of drivers younger than age 21 on its roads every day.

"I don't know how many of those other cities with our population really have our population," Hensley said.

San Marcos earned its No. 3 position after 14 people were killed or injured in crashes involving underage drinkers in 2007, according to the rankings.

San Marcos does much better in overall traffic injury rates. Its composite ranking, which takes into account all injuries per average daily miles traveled, is 63 out of 106.

In 2007, 227 people were injured or killed in the city, with vehicles covering an average of 731,997 miles every day.

Escondido, in addition to ranking third for alcohol-related traffic injuries, ranked high in several other categories.

It was No. 1 in fatalities and injuries caused by drunken drivers under age 21 and No. 4 in hit-and-run related injuries.

Overall, the city was ranked fourth out of 52 for its traffic-injury rate.

The city's ranking has changed little from year to year, according to Office of Traffic Safety reports going back to 2002.

But Loarie said comparing Escondido's collision rate with other cities' year by year is not the best way to measure whether the city is improving.

That's because if other cities also improve by the same amount or more, Escondido would not improve in its overall ranking, he said.

"We could be ranked the same or go down in the rankings, but that doesn't say whether we have safer streets," Loarie said.

Loarie said traffic safety in Escondido has improved since 2005. He credited driver's license and DUI checkpoints and seat belt enforcement with helping to reduce by more than 20 percent the number of injury accidents so far in 2008, compared with the same period in 2005.

Loarie also said the city's high DUI enforcement ranking shows that the police are serious about taking dangerous drivers off the roads.

With 911 drunken-driving arrests in 2007, or 1.06 percent of all its licensed drivers, Escondido ranked 47 out of 52 cities in DUI enforcement.

In this category, a higher ranking means more enforcement, according to the Office of Traffic Safety.

The average city arrests about 0.8 percent of its licensed drivers each year, Meadows said.

The numbers for Carlsbad show police arrested more people for drunken driving in 2007 than in any other year going back to 2002, while the injury rates involving drunken driving stayed about the same.

Carlsbad police made 561 DUI arrests in 2007, compared with 457 the year before, according to the Office of Traffic Safety. In 2005, police made 357 arrests.

Lt. Don Rawson said he wasn't sure why DUI arrests were increasing, but that more people are calling 911 when they spot impaired drivers, in response to a statewide campaign encouraging motorists to report drunken drivers.

"Our fellow citizens are being more diligent and reporting that behavior," he said.

Contact staff writer Sarah Gordon at (760) 740-3517 or sgordon@nctimes.com.

Ranking the cities:
2007 traffic injury and fatality composite rankings

Escondido: 4/52 (ranked against other cities with populations of 100,000 to 250,000)
Carlsbad: 40/52 (ranked against other cities with populations of 100,000 to 250,000)
Encinitas: 70/106 (ranked against other cities with populations of 50,001 to 100,000)
Poway: 89/106 (ranked against other cities with populations of 50,001 to 100,000)
Vista: 29/106 (ranked against other cities with populations of 50,001 to 100,000)
Oceanside: 8/52 (ranked against other cities with populations of 100,000 to 250,000)
San Marcos: 63/106 (ranked against other cities with populations of 50,001 to 100,000)
Poway: 89/106 (ranked against other cities with populations of 50,001 to 100,000)

--- Rankings are based on the number of 2007 fatalities and injuries per average daily vehicle miles.
--- All the 2007 collision and DUI enforcement rankings are available at

http://www.ots.ca.gov/Media_and_Research/Rankings/

COMMENTS ON THIS STORY

In Carlsbad
[-] wrote on Oct 26, 2008 8:15 PM:In 2007 - 561
That is well over 1 a day. Scary stuff!

EscoKat
[-] wrote on Oct 26, 2008 9:13 PM:I'd like to know the percentage of those involved in accidents and/or DUI arrests are driving without a license.

whats missing
[-] wrote on Oct 26, 2008 9:31 PM:The office also compiles DUI enforcement rankings, which are based on the percentage of LISCENSED DRIVERS arrested for DUI.
If they only account for incidents with LISCENSED drivers, how can these statistics be accurate and factual given the amount of UNLISCENSED drivers we ave sharing our roadways and causing accidents.???

Skip
[-] wrote on Oct 26, 2008 10:45 PM:What about Oceanside?? Where did we rank??

Greg in Oceanside
[-] wrote on Oct 27, 2008 12:20 AM:So, the situation didn't/doesn't look so good for Escondido (and San Marcos). Obviously these are pre-2008 statistics, and with Escondido's agressive tactics and checkpoints, maybe we'll see better results for 2008.

I'm wondering why nothing was mentioned about Vista and Oceanside? There are probably some startling statistics that weren't brought to light and should have been mentioned.

Nonetheless this only validates EPD's checkpoint program. It would be nice if this would silence the critics, namely Bill Flores, the ACLU, and all the open-border, illegal alien advocates. But, we know this won't be the case.

Also, it appears more needs to be done in San Marcos. I'm sure more needs to be done in Vista and Oceanside (and all over San Diego and California) by conducting checkpoints to remove intoxicated, unlicensed, uninsured, and illegal drivers off our roads. And while they're at it remove illegal aliens from our roads and deport them too.

As the report illustrates, there are too many hit-and-run accidents throughout all of San Diego County. If anyone wants to see for themself, go to the SIGALERT web site and hover over the YELLOW DIAMONDS. Many times these yellow diamonds are hit-and-runs and there are usually a couple at any given time during commuting hours. Los Angeles/Orange County and the Inland Empire are a different story. Usually there are several hit-and-runs throughout the entire day!

This isn't rocket-science and those with the most to lose are the ones most likely to flee. And who are these people? You be the judge, but intoxicated, unlicensed, uninsured, illegal drivers are on the top of the list. Considering illegal aliens fall into one or a few of these categories, they're the prime candidates.

It's time to drop the hammer on these offenders, including deporting all illegal aliens caught whenever they're stopped by law enforcement on our roads.

As a law-abiding citizen who doesn't drive while intoxicated, has a current license, has more than adequate insurance, I'm fed up knowing we have a disturbing number of people on our roads who put all of us in danger.

He Said
[-] wrote on Oct 27, 2008 7:44 AM:Sorry, Sarah, some of your column was either edited out or you forgot to include the website where the total report could be viewed (now customary in the current electronic world). And, no statistics for North County's largest city?

CITIZEN AT RISK
[-] wrote on Oct 27, 2008 10:21 AM:No license - no insurance - no registration. Brings a new meaning to "undocumented" doesn't it

EPiC
[-] wrote on Oct 27, 2008 10:32 AM:They're only doing this to justify Escondido's increase in DUI Checkpoints. Cha Ching for Escondido and the tow companies.

Skip
[-] wrote on Oct 27, 2008 11:20 AM:TYPICAL PC (Politically Correct) COPOUT

RE: The Office of Traffic Safety does not analyze the reasons why a city ranks low or high, said Michele Meadows, assistant director of operations.

Just Like:

-The schools do not analyze the Legal Status of their students.
-The hospitals will not admit how many unpaid bills belong to Illegal Aliens
-Most newspapers will not divulge the Legal Status of suspects in Crime stories (if they can help it)
-No Child left Behind benefits who?
-The state will not admit to Anchor babies, or the cost of medical care given to Illegal Aliens.
-The real stats in Reports from the Centers for Disease Control

It is so much simpler to make a blank statement that says " _____________ we do not analyze the reasons"

REGION Activists call checkpoints unfair
[-] wrote on Oct 27, 2008 11:22 AM:http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008...ea007ad064.txt

Skip
[-] wrote on Oct 27, 2008 11:30 AM:Lots of Facts, figures, and reports, but not one mention of Illegal Aliens or unlicensed Drivers.

IT IS LIKE THEY DO NOT EVEN EXIST !

We all know better ........

"The goal of the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) is to reduce deaths, injuries and economic losses resulting from traffic related collisions. We do this by funding traffic safety programs that have impact both state-wide and in individual communities. From impaired driving enforcement to encouraging seat belt usage, speed enforcement to bicycle safety, OTS funded programs are saving lives and futures every day on California’s roadways."

http://www.ots.ca.gov/

Hey Bill Flores and Olga Diaz
[-] wrote on Oct 27, 2008 11:56 AM:This article proves the validity of the checkpoints. We need MORE of them.[b]

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