Fresno Car Accidents Reduced Using High-Tech Devices

Fresno accident injury lawyers will tell you the city has combined tough tactics with high technology to catch DUIs before they cause car accidents that can injure or kill. In 2006, Fresno car collisions accounted for 38 fatalities and 1,749 injuries. Alcohol-related car crashes were responsible for 16 fatalities and 235 injuries. Fresno had had enough. Police installed roadblocks, and set up stakeouts using night-vision goggles, satellite tracking devices and video cameras in an unprecedented crackdown to get DUIs off Fresno's streets and highways.

These assertive tactics distinguished Fresno as one of America's toughest anti-DUI cities. Predictably, bars and restaurants complained, but authorities insist that the four-year crackdown resulted in a steep decline in lethal car accidents. Police efforts include staking out bars for drunks stumbling to their cars, setting up frequent DUI checkpoints, even attaching GPS devices on cars of convicted drunk drivers to nab parole violators.

The efforts produced impressive results. DUI arrests climbed steadily from 2,169 in 2002 to almost 3,000 in 2006. A study conducted by Fresno's Community Regional Medical Center found that the rise in traffic citations resulted in a major decrease in car collisions, all while the city's population increased. The study showed that in 2002, 26,000 traffic citations were handed out, followed by 65,000 in 2003 and 85,947 in 2004. During that same three-year period, auto collisions dropped from 4,502 in 2002 to 4,314 in 2003, and fell again to 4,136 in 2004. Of those, injury collisions declined from 1,750 in 2002 to 1,587 in 2004, while fatal car collisions fell from 52 in 2002 to 30 in 2004. In Fresno County, where this traffic enforcement program was not in effect, auto collisions rose during the same three years.

"This is a model program that worked to reduce the number of tragic car accidents in Fresno," noted John Bisnar. "Mothers Against Drunk Driving pronounced these efforts as 'among the most aggressive in the nation.' The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ranks Fresno as one of the eight cities demonstrating 'sustained, high-visibility, impaired-driving enforcement.'" Unlike many cities, Fresno's flat, wide streets with extended distances between stoplights have lured many to drive faster than safely allowed by law.

As a complement to Fresno's anti-DUI efforts, Caltrans installed a high-tech multi-faceted traffic system in 2007. The system includes fog and weather sensors, closed circuit cameras and message boards--strategically placed along 12 miles of Highway 99. The fully automated system activates message signs to quickly alert motorists whether they need to slow down or come to a complete stop if necessary. Once a highway mishap or thick fog is detected, the information is transferred from a sensor, to a camera, and to the area's huge message boards in matter of seconds.

Be on the Hit-and-Run Lookout

BISNAR | CHASE, in conjunction with WeTip, a leading anonymous crime reporting service and law enforcement advocacy non-profit organization, is launching a program intended to wipe out hit-and-runs in the state of California by offering rewards for tips leading to the arrest and felony conviction of hit-and-run drivers. See Hit-and-Run Reward for more details.

BISNAR | CHASE 2006-2010 Super Lawyers names outstanding lawyers from more than 60 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. BISNAR | CHASE has received this award for five consecutive years. Brian Chase was named one of the 2010 Top 50 Orange County Lawyers.