Devices Expected to Cut Accidents : CHP to Aim Radar at North Tustin Speeders

North Tustin will become the second area in unincorporated Orange County in which California Highway Patrol officers will use radar to monitor speeding motorists, a practice that has brought encouraging results in Mission Viejo, officials said Friday.

CHP Sgt. Marlin Matlock said the county has purchased two radar units for use by highway patrolmen in unincorporated North Tustin. “We should have them in operation in about 30 to 45 days after we train our officers to use the radar units correctly,” Matlock said.

The Board of Supervisors approved the purchase of the units for $3,670 recently after North Tustin residents complained of speeding problems in the vicinity of Newport Avenue and 17th Street.

Stephen Johnson, a member of North Tustin’s Municipal Advisory Council, said that motorists traveling north on Newport Avenue are required to slow down to 35 m.p.h. from 45 m.p.h. when they reach the North Tustin boundary.

“It drops off to 35 m.p.h. when they reach North Tustin, but it’s almost impossible to slow down when you have some one else climbing on your back (from behind). It’s just not safe to drive on that street,” Johnson said.

He also said that without radar equipment, patrolmen have had little luck making motorists slow down.

“I think the radar will put the fear of the Lord in the speeders,” Johnson added.

Steve Hogan of the county’s Environmental Management Agency said speed-limit signs must be posted to warn motorists before the CHP starts to use the radar units. He also said the speeding problems should diminish when the radar units are installed.

“I think people will become aware that they are being checked. It will make a big difference,” Hogan said.

CHP officers began using two similar radar units to monitor motorists on seven major streets in Mission Viejo in December, 1983.

Since then, officers have reported success in stopping speeders and preventing traffic accidents.

Officer Ken Daily of the CHP’s San Juan Capistrano headquarters said statistics for the second year in which the radar units were used in Mission Viejo showed that speed-related traffics accidents decreased 14% from the first year. Daily also said injury accidents decreased 12% from last year. No statistics were developed for the first year of use since there were no figures for comparison.

“That’s a decrease in accidents even when the population has increased in that area. A 14% decrease in accidents may not sound like much, but we think that’s very significant,” Daily said.