Costa Mesa Car Accidents Linked to Freeway Mentality, DUIs and Red-Light Runners

Costa Mesa Car Accidents Linked to Freeway Mentality, DUIs and Red-Light Runners

Costa Mesa car accidents are overwhelming the city. With a population over 110,000 and growing, Costa Mesa, California, continues to suffer too many car accidents, which experts blame on a variety of problems. Among these problems is a troublesome intersection--one of the busiest in Orange County--situated near several off- and onramps to the San Diego Freeway. Cars in the vicinity of South Coast Plaza, the Metro Pointe shopping mall, and several high-density residential areas often overload traffic arteries.Analysts have suggested that motorists tend to adopt a 'freeway driving' mentality when they get off the freeway. They blame many red-light runners for this mindset. A countywide study by the Automobile Club of Southern California backs this up. It found that intersections located next to freeways have the most car accidents caused by red-light runners.Nationally, motorists who run red lights kill over 1,000 people per year and injure over 250,000. Tragically, pedestrians are struck in over half the intersection accidents caused by red-light runners. Overall, men are twice as likely to speed through an intersection as women are. Additionally, most red-light runners are college educated.In a sign of the times, Costa Mesa Police Department noted that at least 40 percent of violators caught on the city's red-light cameras were talking on cell phones. Costa Mesa installed red-light cameras at various intersections to nab the speeding scofflaws. A year after the cameras went up, the accident rate decreased by 28.2 percent.Motorists who are driving under the influence pose another big challenge for Costa Mesa. According to Costa Mesa Police, the city has the second highest number of DUI arrests in the state. In a recent year, half of all fatal car crashes in Costa Mesa was DUI related.Adding to these troubling statistics are those reported by the California Highway Patrol's Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS). In 2006, 11 people were killed in Costa Mesa car accidents and 855 were injured. Alcohol-related accidents accounted for six fatalities and 104 injuries. Motorcycle accidents killed two persons and injured 60. Two pedestrians lost their lives and 40 were injured in car accidents.To bring down the number of car accidents in Costa Mesa, the Police Department conducted a sobriety checkpoint in March, 2009--at northbound Harbor Boulevard south of Gisler Avenue. As many as 1,349 vehicles drove through the checkpoint and 364 were stopped. Of these, 34 drivers were screened for DUI, which resulted in four DUI arrests. In addition, five drivers were cited for driving without a license and another five were cited for driving on suspended licenses. One driver was arrested for a warrant and another arrested for being intoxicated in public. A total of 10 citations were issued for miscellaneous vehicle code violations and 10 cars were impounded.