Rise in Traffic Fatalities Prompts Crackdown

A steady rise in San Fernando Valley traffic fatalities has prompted the Los Angeles Police Department’s Valley Traffic Division to order patrol officers to write more tickets, officials said Monday.

What started as a mention in morning roll calls two months ago has turned into a new system, now in its third week of trial in the West Valley, in which a motorcycle officer rides with patrol officers to teach them traffic law enforcement, said Ron Bergmann, deputy chief commanding officer of operations.

Officers will be encouraged to target certain streets, such as Roscoe Boulevard and Sherman Way, and intersections where more fatalities occur, he said.

Valley Traffic Sgt. Bill Justice said each motorcycle officer writes 12 to 16 citations a day, but patrol officers write only four to five a month because of their responsibility for radio calls and arrests.

Bergmann said another reason patrol officers write fewer tickets is “a lack of knowledge [about] traffic laws.”

“Some feel writing traffic tickets is not important,” Bergmann said. “But that’s one of the basic things we do as police officers.”

Studies have shown that tickets, not warnings, deter traffic violations, he said.

Fatal traffic accidents rose from 18 in the first three months of last year to 21 in the same period this year, Bergmann said.

The increase has continued for the past three years overall.

Most of the fatalities were caused by driving under the influence, speeding, running red lights and right-of-way violations, such as making unsafe left turns, Bergmann said.

Valley Traffic Sgt. Roger Archambault said some pedestrians are hit while crossing the street mid-block or jaywalking, situations in which the pedestrian is at fault.