MISSION VIEJO : Have Cycles, Will Catch More Cars

It was the first day for the city’s new motorcycle patrol unit and two officers who had pulled to the side of Santa Margarita Parkway were drawing curious stares from passing motorists.

As traffic backed up, one driver gazed a little too long at the police officers, plowing into the car in front of him. Nobody was seriously hurt, but, as the officers reflected later, it was one way to get introduced with a bang.

Six traffic officers traded in their patrol units for motorcycles this week, and the city is already seeing dividends on its $89,000 investment.

“We’re already getting results,” said Orange County Sheriff’s Lt. George Johnson, who acts as Mission Viejo’s police chief. “This is a town where last year we had 1,300 accidents. That’s too much for a city of 73,000 and I think our motorcycle units will have a large impact on those numbers.

Their edge in maneuverability over patrol cars gives motorcycles a big advantage in catching traffic violators, Johnson said. Last Wednesday, a member of the motorcycle unit managed to weave through traffic on the typically congested intersection at Avery and Marguerite parkways to write four tickets in half an hour.

“Imagine if a patrol car was between three or four cars at a stoplight and somebody committed a lane violation across the street,” Johnson said. “A motorcycle is designed to do this kind of work. They can get to more people more safely.”

Johnson backed the motorcycle purchase because his patrol cars weren’t effective in dealing with some chronic trouble spots in the city.

“It was being caused by traffic patterns and bad driving,” he said. “I don’t look at drivers as being John Dillinger or anything, but bad driving habits are causing accidents in this city, and we had to do something about it.”