FATAL ACCIDENT TREND

Fatal traffic accidents in Orange County fell to a five-year low of 244 in 1988. That was a 12% decline from the year before. Not surprisingly, Anaheim and Santa Ana were the sites of the most accidents, while none occurred in either La Palma or Los Alamitos. In fact, there have been no fatal accidents in La Palma during any of the last five years--the only city in the county that can make such a claim.

Orange County was also safer than its neighbors. There were fewer accidents here than in any of the surrounding counties, and the rate per thousand licensed drivers was lowest in the five-county area.

Here’s the fatal accident trend during the last five years in county cities and a 1988 comparison of Orange to the surrounding counties:

City 1988 1987 1986 1985 1984 Anaheim 41 40 39 41 32 Brea 2 9 4 6 6 Buena Park 4 9 5 6 7 Costa Mesa 10 9 13 12 16 Cypress 5 2 2 1 3 Fountain Valley 8 2 3 8 2 Fullerton 9 14 14 9 12 Garden Grove 13 15 14 11 11 Huntington Beach 15 12 15 19 11 Irvine 15 10 11 14 14 Laguna Beach 1 5 1 3 1 La Habra 3 2 4 3 7 La Palma 0 0 0 0 0 Los Alamitos 0 1 2 0 0 Mission Viejo 3 N/A N/A N/A N/A Newport Beach 5 3 7 6 5 Orange 9 15 14 15 10 Placentia 1 2 4 4 3 San Clemente 3 7 2 5 3 San Juan Capistrano 3 4 4 7 4 Santa Ana 26 34 30 26 33 Seal Beach 6 7 3 5 5 Stanton 2 5 4 7 3 Tustin 5 5 8 5 4 Villa Park 1 0 1 2 0 Westminster 14 11 9 9 8 Yorba Linda 2 5 5 4 1 State highways 13 11 20 14 11 County roads 25 39 39 40 36 TOTAL 244 278 277 282 248

1988 FIVE-COUNTY COMPARISON

Total Rate per Thousand % of Five-County City Fatalities Licensed Drivers Total Los Angeles 1,032 .19 46 Orange 244 .14 11 Riverside 264 .40 12 San Bernardino 338 .42 15 San Diego 370 .23 16 FIVE-COUNTY TOTAL 2,248 .22 100

% of State City Total Los Angeles 23 Orange 5 Riverside 6 San Bernardino 8 San Diego 8 FIVE-COUNTY TOTAL 50

Source: California Highway Patrol