ALCOHOL-RELATED ACCIDENTS

During the first five months of the year, the period for which the most recent information is available, the percentage of traffic accidents (both fatal and injurious) in which alcohol was a factor dropped 12% in Orange County cities, compared to the same period last year. Declines also occurred in the county’s unincorporated areas (on the state highways and county roads), yielding a 13% countywide decrease in these incidents. Following are the January-May totals by city, ranked by percent change:

Jan.-May Jan.-May Percent City 1987 1988 Change Villa Park 1 0 -100 Placentia 16 7 -56 Yorba Linda 12 7 -42 Orange 88 52 -41 Buena Park 49 32 -35 Brea 24 16 -33 Fountain Valley 39 26 -33 Anaheim 204 151 -26 Newport Beach 51 40 -22 Stanton 20 16 -20 Fullerton 77 64 -17 La Habra 26 22 -15 Westminster 52 44 -15 Huntington Beach 115 105 -9 Santa Ana 225 212 -6 La Palma 6 6 even San Clemente 12 12 even San Juan Capistrano 15 15 even Tustin 32 32 even Garden Grove 109 113 +4 Costa Mesa 58 63 +9 Irvine 38 44 +16 Seal Beach 15 18 +20 Laguna Beach 17 21 +24 Cypress 17 45 +47 Los Alamitos 3 6 +100 CITY TOTAL 1,321 * 1,160 -12 State Highways 63 49 -22 County Roads 141 126 -11 COUNTY TOTAL 1,525 1,325 -13

*In April the California Highway Patrol began keeping separate statistics for the city of Mission Viejo. The total includes 8 accidents that occurred in Mission Viejo, which would have fallen under the unincorporated “State Highways” or “County Roads” categories in past months.

Source: California Highway Patrol; California State Department of Motor Vehicles

ALCOHOL AND ACCIDENTS--A 5-COUNTY COMPARISON Orange County’s 282 alcohol-related accidents in May (the latest month for which information is available) ranked it behind Los Angeles County in total accidents, but ahead of Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego for the month. Orange County’s rate of fatal/injurious alcohol-related accidents per 100,000 drivers, 16.8, was second lowest of the five counties during May, an improvement from the 18.3 rate recorded in April.

Percent of Percent of Rate per Total 5-County State 100,000 County Accidents Total Total Drivers Los Angeles 931 51 26 17.2 Orange 282 15 8 16.8 Riverside 159 8 4 26.0 San Bernardino 213 12 6 27.7 San Diego 250 14 7 16.0 FIVE-COUNTY TOTAL 1,835 100 51 18.3 STATE TOTAL 3,585 -- 100 19.3