Traffic Safety

Drunk driving deaths in California dropped for a third straight year in 2008, the state Office of Traffic Safety said Thursday, but motorcycle fatalities continued a decade-long rise, mirroring a national increase. Overall, traffic deaths dropped by 14% in 2008, to 3,434, the state said, using figures released last month by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Alcohol- related deaths accounted for slightly less than one-third of the total, and were down 9.1% -- a slightly smaller decline than for the nation as a whole.

The 149 air traffic control towers that were scheduled to close this summer because of federal sequestration will remain open until at least September, government officials said Friday. The Federal Aviation Administration said legislation approved by Congress last month allows the agency to transfer funds from other accounts to keep the towers open until the end of the fiscal year. The towers, run by contract workers, operate at small airports such as Brown Field Municipal Airport in San Diego, Riverside Municipal Airport, Whiteman Airport in Pacoima, Oxnard Airport, Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville and Fullerton Municipal Airport.

A lot of people don't like to read, panic at taking a written test and have never quite understood what all those yellow lines on the road mean. Those are a lot of the folks you share the highway with in California. When it's time to take the California driver's test for a license renewal, one-third of the drivers flunk the exam given in English. Among aspiring drivers who have never taken the exam before, 50% fail. People taking the test in Spanish for renewal do even worse, with 80% flunking.

Why is ticket fixing such an enduring and deeply offensive form of corruption? The question arises because of the most recent allegations in the scandal-plagued city of San Fernando, where the former police chief apparently had a ticket dismissed for an aide to then-U.S. Rep. Howard Berman who had been stopped for running a stop sign in late 2011. At the time, the aide, Fred Flores, was the liaison between Berman and the San Fernando Police Department. According to a memo by a Los Angeles County deputy district attorney, Flores berated the police officer who stopped him and then called acting-Chief Jeff Eley's cellphone.

This just in:  You can't outlaw human nature. And no, I don't mean Prohibition and demon rum (although that is still Exhibit A). I mean the California law that bans texting or using a hand-held phone while driving. As The Times reported Wednesday: Californians are increasingly talking or sending text messages on their cellphone while driving, a new study has found. A statewide survey showed 10.8% of drivers use mobile devices at any given daylight time, an increase from 7.3% a year ago, according to the California Office of Traffic Safety.

I protest and take strong exception to the style, content and conclusions of The Times' Valley Edition editorial titled "Self-Policing Is Best Traffic Ticket," Sept. 29. This editorial is the most egregious example of garbage journalism I've read in a long time, and I read a lot. The unnamed author of this jewel is repeatedly guilty of making statements where unsubstantiated conclusions are put forth as the correct interpretation of inadequate data. From this supposedly informative editorial, look at some examples: "Local motorists actually want traffic cops to issue more tickets."

San Fernando Valley streets were not really made for speeding, but that's not the way many drivers see things. Wide and straight with longer distances between stoplights than the rest of the city, streets here all too often bring out the race car driver within. No wonder the Valley is home to eight of the 19 city intersections with the worst accident records. Given how much time Angelenos spend in their cars, traffic safety should be a top priority.

As far as the safety of the westbound Riverside and northbound Santa Ana freeways interchange, I must disagree with Caltrans spokeswoman Deborah Harris (March 19). I travel north on the Santa Ana Freeway through that spot every day, usually around 2 p.m., when traffic is flowing around 45 mph. The merge and acceleration zone for those coming from the westbound Riverside Freeway to the northbound Santa Ana Freeway is way too short. Although I get off at the Manchester offramp, 100 yards past the Riverside Freeway ramp, I move to the middle lane to avoid the merging traffic.

Kids can learn the rules of the road in a program conducted by police. The miniature "Safety Town," which opened Friday, teaches children ages 4 to 7 about traffic safety. Traffic officers and Explorers from the Oxnard Police Department use interactive techniques to illustrate the significance of traffic signs, proper street crossing, bicycle safety and more. Officers will also be on hand to fingerprint children and take their pictures for identification purposes.

The city of Camarillo, where no pedestrians have been killed in accidents since 1981, will be honored by an auto club for its safety programs. Representatives of the Automobile Club of Southern California, acting on behalf of the American Automobile Assn., will present Mayor David Smith a plaque at a City Council meeting Wednesday night.

With the Los Angeles mayoral primary just over two weeks away, candidates are fine-tuning their appeals to diverse groups across the city's vast expanse of neighborhoods. On the Westside, longtime city officials Eric Garcetti, Wendy Greuel and Jan Perry are vying for dominance among affluent liberals and moderates. Along the northern and western rims of the San Fernando Valley, moderates and conservatives are key targets for Greuel, the city controller who represented parts of the area when she was on the City Council; Republican Kevin James, a former radio talk-show host; and Perry, a downtown councilwoman presenting herself as a business-friendly budget hawk.

Unlicensed drivers in California -- the vast majority of whom are illegal immigrants -- are nearly three times as likely to cause a fatal crash as licensed drivers, according to a study by the Department of Motor Vehicles. The report suggests that merely meeting the modest requirements necessary to get a license -- passing a written exam and driving test -- could improve road safety and help reduce the several thousand fatalities that occur in the state each year. "If you don't hold people accountable to acceptable standards, then we get people that aren't prepared and don't have the skill set," said Tyler Izen, president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League.

After receiving a completely bogus moving violation for making a rolling stop in Chinatown, I decided to go to traffic school to keep my insurance costs in check. To my surprise, I learned that they still held traffic school in actual classrooms and not just online. The online courses' advertised rates were cheaper - in some cases by half - than the brick-and-mortar variety. Who would pay more to watch gory traffic films with strangers when you could stay home in your pajamas?

The number of people killed in traffic accidents last year dropped to its lowest point in more than six decades elsewhere in the nation but rose in California, according to new federal transportation figures. Across the country, deaths of cyclists and pedestrians surged in 2011, despite the overall downward trend in fatalities. According to the recently released report, 32,367 people were killed in motor vehicle accidents in 2011, a decrease of 1.9% from the year before and the lowest number since 1949.

WASHINGTON -- Traffic deaths nationally were down last year to their lowest level since record-keeping began in 1949.  But not in North Dakota, where they were up 41%, the biggest increase of any state. Fourteen states, including California, recorded an increase in motor vehicle fatalities, even though the 32,367 traffic deaths last year were down 1.9% from the previous year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The traffic safety agency this year projected a record low in 2011 traffic deaths as motorists drove less, perhaps because of high gas prices and a still-difficult economy.

Days after tumbling concrete killed nine people in a Japanese highway tunnel, the country is unsettled, fearful that its infrastructure could be in urgent need of repair at a time when money is scarce. Roads and tunnels sprang up rapidly across Japan during the boom years of 1954 to 1973, said Toshiyuki Yamamoto, a professor at Nagoya University who studies transportation and traffic safety. Now that infrastructure is aging and in need of serious maintenance or replacement, just as the budget is under strain, he said.

Responding to concerns of residents whose Balboa Peninsula neighborhood was the site of a shocking hit-and-run death, the Newport Beach City Council on Monday vowed to consider a citywide examination of traffic safety measures. "I'm really sorry that we had this tragedy to make us aware we've got a problem," Councilwoman Ruthelyn Plummer said. She was referring to the death of Debbie Killelea, a 37-year-old mother of three who on Sept.

The Monterey Park Police Department has begun a program designed to increase traffic safety in the city. For the first 45 days, five sworn officers and two reserves on motorcycles will issue warnings, along with a bilingual traffic safety brochure, to drivers committing violations in non-hazardous situations. Those whose infractions might have caused an accident will be cited.

California officials are warning against "drugged driving" after a statewide survey found drugs that can affect driving in one of every seven weekend nighttime motorists - nearly twice the number of those with alcohol in their system. The survey results, announced Monday by the California Office of Traffic Safety, found that 14% of drivers surveyed tested positive for driving under the influence of impairing drugs - both illegal and prescription - and 7.3% of drivers tested positive for driving with alcohol in their system.

WASHINGTON -- Drivers and their front-seat passengers buckle up more in heavy traffic than light traffic. They click it in the West more than any other region. And more wear seat belts on weekends than weekdays.  Those are among the findings of a new survey on seat belt use from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.  The implications for public health are vast. Research has found that use of seat belts reduces the risk of fatal injury to front-seat passenger car occupants by 45% and the risk of moderate-to-critical injury by 50%, according to the traffic safety agency.