The CotoBuzz Journal, Community Journalism

JULY 2008 ISSUE

We do not make jokes, we simply watch the LA Times, the Orange County Register and CID/HOA board of directors and report the facts!

Gas Prices Up, Accidents in Coto Down - An Accident?

Debunking the theory advanced by CZ supporters who claimed traffic accidents were a fact of life in Coto

July 2, 2008

Gas prices keep going up, up, up and traffic accidents in Coto de Caza continue a downward trend that started in 2005, shortly after the two traffic fatalities and when the Coto de Caza board of directors was coerced into bringing back the CHP for traffic enforcement .

So, is there an inverse relationship between gas prices and the number of traffic accidents within Coto de Caza?

Are Coto Soccer Moms responsible for most of the traffic accidents, as previously asserted by a former member of the board of directors?

Are Coto teens mostly responsible for most of the traffic accidents, as previously asserted by another former member of the board of directors?

Looking at the data and asking the CHP, apparently the real reason for the drop in collision rate is that the "CHP and the residents are doing a great job", according to CHP's Christopher Goodwin

The second quarter of 2008 not only registered the lowest number of accidents since 2001, but also recorded the lowest number of citations per enforcement hour - 0.71 citations per hour recorded in April 2008.

PERIOD

ACCIDENTS

% Change from baseline

2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	1Q2008	1Q2008
12	15	22	28	30	24	21	16	12
-20%	0%	47%	87%	100%	60%	40%	7%	-20%

source: CHP Capistrano, CA

The data certainly debunks the theory advanced by nay sayers and supporters of the CZ administration who claimed traffic accidents were a fact of life in Coto and because of population explosion, it would be impossible to achieve 2001 accident rate levels- which for the record, we have always claimed to be within the realm of probability. Nay Sayers even used the analogy of the number of traffic accidents in Interstate 5 close to LAX!

Period	Citations per Enforcement Hour
Apr-07	1.62
Jun-07	1.47
Aug-07	1.34
Nov-07	1.27
Dec-07	1.05
Apr-08	0.71
Apr-08	0.71

source: CHP Capistrano, CA

We asked the CHP if the significant drop in citations per enforcement hour were due to management policy, or whether Coto residents were now more safety conscious. An answer was not readily available, but Office Christopher Goodwin speculated that the "decrease is most likely due to our presence and residents being more cognizant of their driving. I believe CHP and the residents are doing a great job and we hope that traffic collisions remain at low
levels", he said.

DUIs continue to be a factor, however, albeit a decreasing one: DUI was a factor in 50% of the traffic accidents reported in the first quarter of this year, whereas for the second quarter only 33%

On the other hand, the Peter Pan Syndrome continues to be alive and thriving in Coto de Caza, as the age group of 40 years and above accounted for 28% of all the traffic citations issued in April 2008 by the CHP.

COMMENTS

CotoBlogzz Tagzz - use any number of social networking managers to share this (or any other articles in the Internet) with others...click here and select social bookmarkings threads

RELATED STORIES

Coto de Caza 1Q2008 Traffic Collision Report As is usually the case with public safety statistics in Coto de Caza, the collision report for the the first quarter shows good news and bad news.

In Search of D-WOP Loopholes- As of July 1, 2008, California drivers must use hands-free technology when talking on a mobile phone, and drivers under age 18 may not use a mobile phone at all while driving. Given that Coto Board of Directors’ love affair with Loopholes, we decided to look at possible D-WOP (driving while on the phone) loopholes

The Maturing of Coto de Caza-Coto de Caza is no longer GRUP City!
Age distribution in the crime & vandalism and collision statistics for Coto de Caza, indicate that an underage person is as likely to be involved in a crime or collision within Coto, as is a senior citizen. This fact has led us to the conclusion that...

Coto de Caza Collision Statistics 4Q2007 - was not a good quarter!
The last quarter of 2007 was chthonic anent traffic collisions in Coto de Caza. While the community enjoyed a significant dip during the third quarter, the fourth quarter recorded a total of 8 collisions, three of them DUI-related, not unlike the one...

Details of DUI Lawsuit earns opprobrium for CZ directors
As details of a DUI- related accident start to emerge a crescendo to a steady buildup in calls for a CZ director to step down is being reached. The case in question (05CC02855) involves a traffic accident that occurred September 22, 2004 at the...

Coto de Caza DUI Collision Lawsuit Notes
Case No 05CC02855 involves a traffic accident that occurred September 22, 2004 at the intersection of Vista del Verde and Mackenzie Lane (undisputed fact). The defendant was visiting Coto de Caza as a guest of Coto de Caza Gold Club, having earlier...

Coto de Caza: 4Q2007 Crime and Vandalism Flash Report
The CZ Board will not do it - Here is to you Coto Dad - keep it up! The bad news is that the 3Q2007 flash crime and vandalism report showed a troubling upward trend, particularly when crime and vandalism rate per capita in Coto de Caza was twice that...

Former Haidl, Jaramillo Defense Attorney JG Cavallo Goes to Jail
According to the OCDA, defense attorney Joseph Gerard Cavallo, 52, Irvine, was sentenced today to six months in jail after pleading guilty on October 12, 2007 to three felony counts for conspiring to engage in attorney capping and an illegal attorney...

CHP Officer Arrested, Held on $4 million Bail at the Orange County Jail.
According to the Orange County District Attorney (OCDA), the OCDA and Santa Ana Police Department, in cooperation with the California Highway Patrol (CHP), arrested Joshua Blackburn, a CHP officer and recovered several kilograms of cocaine that had been...

Coto's Dads Take Matters Into Own Hands, Get A+: CHP Collision Report, 3Q2007- Kudos Coto Moms & Dads for doing what the CZ BOD refused to even consider!
The 3Q2007 CHP collision figures just received from the CHP show a quarterly collision level (on an annualized basis) comparable to the levels the Coto de Caza community experienced prior to expulsion of the CHP by the CZ Master Association board of...