OPERATION 500; A STUDY OF THE EFFECT OF INCREASED ROAD PATROL.

FINDINGS INCLUDE: (1) FIVE HUNDRED TRAFFIC OFFICER POSITIONS GRANTED BY THE LEGISLATURE SPECIFICALLY FOR ACCIDENT REDUCTION WERE ALLOCATED TO ROADWAYS FELT BY THE DEPARTMENT TO BE SUSCEPTIBLE TO ACCIDENT REDUCTION (2) ON U.S. 50, A STATISTICALLY SIFNIFICANT RELATIONSHIP WAS OBTAINED BETWEEN MANPOWER AND MOVING VIOLATIONS, MOVING VIOLATIONS AND REPORTABLE ACCIDENTS, AND REPORTABLE ACCIDENTS AND MANPOWER. (3) THE ANALYSIS OF U.S. 50 AND COMPARISONS WITH OPERATION 101 SUPPORTS THE CONCLUSIONS: (A) A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN MANPOWER WILL RESULT IN A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN REPORTABLE ACCIDENTS; (B) MORE THAN 2.0 MEN PER MILE PER 100,000 VEHICLE MILES OF TRAVEL IS REQUIRED FOR NONMETROPOLITAN ROADWAYS TO EFFECT ACCIDENT REDUCTIONS; AND (C) BEYOND 4.2 MEN PER MILE PER 100,000 VEHICLE MILES OF TRAVEL ON A NONMETROPOLITAN ROADWAY THE BENEFIT OF MANPOWER ON ACCIDENTS DECREASES. (4) FOR ALL THE ROADWAYS IN OPERATION 500, FATAL ACCIDENTS WERE REDUCED BY 31 (16.9%) AND FATALITIES WERE REDUCED BY 42 (19.0%). INJURY ACCIDENTS DECREASED BY 172 (2.5%). PERSONS INJURED WITH SEVERE WOUNDS DECREASED BY 188 (11.2%), WITH MINOR WOUNDS DECREASED 73 (1.6%), AND WITH COMPLAINT OF PAIN INCREASED 428 9(.4%). (5) MANPOWER WAS ALLOCATED TO THE STUDY ROADWAYS FOR ACCIDENT REDUCTION PURPOSES. THE MANPOWER WAS DEPLOYED WITHIN THE PATROL AREA FOR ACCIDENT REDUCTION AND OTHER ENFORCEMENT PROBLEMS. NEARLY 99% OF THE HOURS ALLOCATED FOR COVERAGE ON THE STUDY ROADWAY WERE UTILIZED FOR THAT PURPOSE. (6) ON THE METROPOLITAN ROADWAYS, 100% OF MIDNIGHT SHIFTS ACHIEVED A LEVAL OF DEPLOYMENT GREATER THAN 2.7 MEN PER 100,000 VEHICLE MILES OF TRAVEL. FORTY PERCENT OF THE DAY SHIFTS ACHIEVED THIS LEVEL OR GREATER AND NONE OF THE SWING SHIFTS WERE GREATER THAN 2.7. (7) THE COUNT OF ACCIDENTS BY CLASSIFICATION ARE SUSCEPTIBLE TO REPORTING BIAS AS EVIDENCED BY THE SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN COMPLAINT OF PAIN INJURY REPORTING. RECOMMENDATIONS INCLUDE: (1) MANPOWER SHOULD BE ALLOCATED SPECIFICALLY FOR ACCIDENT REDUCTION AND BE DEPLOYED FOR THIS PURPOSE. ADDITIONAL MANPOWER SHOULD BE ALLOCATED FOR OTHER TRAFFIC LAW ENFORCEMENT PROBLEMS AND BE DEPLOYED FOR THIS PURPOSE. ALLOCATION AND DEPLOYMENT SHOULD BE RELATED. (2) A SMALL CONTROL STUDY SHOULD BE CARRIED OUT IN A METROPOLITAN AREA BY DEPLOYING SPECIFICALLY HIGH LEVELS OF MANPOWER TO A SHIFT. THIS WILL ALLOW THE PRESENT CURVES TO BE EXTENED FOR EACH SHIFT. /HSRI/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • FINAL REPORT
• Corporate Authors:

  Calfornia Highway Patrol

  P.O. Box 942898
  Sacramento, CA  United States  94298-0001
• Publication Date: 1972-4

Media Info

• Features: Figures; Tables;
• Pagination: 137 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Deployment; Traffic crashes; Traffic law enforcement; Traffic patrol
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00221996
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Highway Safety Research Institute
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Apr 17 1973 12:00AM