Traffic Accidents Down Over Holiday
The California Highway Patrol reported about half as many traffic accidents countywide this Thanksgiving holiday weekend as there were last year.
During the maximum enforcement period--which ran from 6 p.m. Wednesday to midnight Sunday--there were 23 traffic accidents, compared with 43 last year.
Eighteen of the accidents last year resulted in injury, but this year only five of the accidents were injury-related.
“I think [the lower numbers] are a result of everything--tough laws and penalties, public education, driver’s safety programs and public service announcements,” said CHP investigator George Orozco. “Some years there is a noticeable increase in fatalities, up to five in that weekend, and this year we had none.”
Orozco also noted that cars are safer than before--more of them equipped with air bags and better tires.
“That would minimize injuries and reduces fatalities,” he said.
Last year there were 36 DUI arrests, and this year there were 22. --CATHERINE BLAKE
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