Serious Traffic Accidents Drop 25%

Serious and fatal traffic accidents have dropped nearly 25% in the San Fernando Valley this year, and traffic citations and drunk driving arrests have also declined, according to authorities.

Police and traffic analysts credit tougher motorcycle-safety and seat-belt laws, more traffic safety programs--and even hard economic times--for the improvement.

“It’s not one sole factor,” said Sgt. Dennis Zine, traffic safety team supervisor for the Valley Traffic Division. “If you compile the statistics, you have to say enforcement has an impact, education has an impact and compliance has an impact.”

Through May 31, the Los Angeles Police Department reported 256 serious accidents, 33 of which involved fatalities. In the same period last year, there were 339 such accidents, including 42 fatalities.

As the accident toll has fallen, so has the frequency of traffic stops made by Valley police officers. The latest available figures, through April 30, show a 6% reduction in Valley traffic citations and a 3.7% drop in arrests for driving under the influence since a year ago.

Authorities offered several reasons for the encouraging trends.

“In the San Fernando Valley, we have a lot of motorcyclists,” Zine said. “The helmet law has had a tremendous impact with the reduction of fatal and serious accidents.”

In 1992, there were five fatal motorcycle accidents through April 30, compared to only one such death during that period this year. The number of serious injury collisions in the same time span among motorcyclists dropped from 30 in 1992 to 19 in 1993.

Zine also cited a new law that allows police to pull over motorists solely for not wearing a safety belt. But the number of seat-belt citations in the Valley so far this year was not available, said Officer Steve Wesselink of the Police Department’s press relations bureau.

Another explanation suggested for the accident decline was increased educational efforts by traffic safety officers. Another factor, according to Sharyn Gunter, the Valley Traffic Division’s analytical officer, was based more on a change in the economy than in driving habits.

“There aren’t that many people out there,” Gunter said. “They’re not going to work. They’re not spending money.”