Motorcycle Riders about to ride up the Angeles Crest Highway
As the California State Department of Transportation is poised Friday to re-open Angeles Crest Highway, a curvy mountain road beloved by bikers, the CHP will step up enforcement.
The Crest’s sweeping turns and steep cliffs demand motorcyclists navigate the road with care and at a controlled speed, and the California Highway Patrol plans to help folks remember this through the Motorcycle Safety Coalitions grant, the agency announced Wednesday. CHP Public Information Officer Ming-Yang Hsu declined to release the amount of the grant.
The grant, which provides enhanced enforcement effort by CHP officers through September 30, will focus on traffic violations made by motorcyclists, as well as other vehicle drivers that can lead to motorcycle collisions, injuries and fatalities, according to a CHP press release.
“Angeles Crest has one of the highest accident rates in the state,” Hsu said, adding the CHP waited to make the grant announcement until Caltrans’ announcement of reopening the road.
According to data from the CHP’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System, 164 motorcycle-involved collisions occurred on Route 2 from Starlight Crest Drive to state Route 39 in Los Angeles County between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2008. Among the collisions, eight were fatal, seven of which were the result of unsafe speed. Of those, speed was the primary collision factor for 98 of the accidents.
Therefore, in an effort to reduce the number of motorcycle-involved fatal and injury collisions along the 38-mile stretch of highway patrolled by the Altadena Area office, the CHP will establish a task force and develop and implement a public awareness campaign by working with local agencies and community members.
Funding for this grant was provided by the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Basically what this grant does is give the CHP more money to put more officers on the Angeles Crest to roust motorcyclist and bikers.
You have now been warned, take it easy out there!
Welcome, my name is 
The Crest is frequently canvassed by LEO’s, which is why I usually avoid it. The good news is there are lots of other cool riding spots around SoCal…
The real losers from this are the businesses which cater to bikers in that area, like Newcomb’s. When you drive their customers away, they lose revenue and L.A. County loses tax dollars.
Sometimes law enforcement admin such as Hsu are incredibly ignorant & shortsighted.
If they really want to prevent accidents, indiscriminately ticketing riders for turn signals, mirrors and mufflers is the wrong approach. I’ve never heard of a motorcycle fatality caused by a loud muffler, missing mirror or an aftermarket turn signal. All that does is target one type of vehicle over another and is tantamount to harassment in order to discourage riders from using the highway altogether.
Simply ticket the racers and speeders – fatality problem solved…
Chris, the Angeles Crest and Newcomb’s Ranch, and the ride from Newcomb’s ranch all the way down to the Mohave Desert, is one of the best SoCal rides there is. I will be doing the run this upcoming weekend. I kind of feel robbed that it has been closed several times in the last decade for years at a time.
I think the cops mostly go after the sport bike riders, but it still sucks.
Norm
First off I will say I am an LEO but i will not issue a bias judgement here. To say that you have never heard of an accident because of a missing mirror or turn signal doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened. A motorcycle just like any other motor vehicle is required this equipment for a reason. I cannot see the logic in thinking that not having a mirror to see what is approaching you from behind would not seem important. I see enough motorcycles not use turn signals at all let alone not having them work or on the bike. Let’s not forget the CHP is enforcing the traffic laws on all motorists on this route. Now since i do not live on California I cannto speak from personal experience of the route or CHP. I can however speak to the fact that stepped up enforcement is not a bad thing and in general their presence is usually a deterent, rather then indiscriminate ticketing.
Casey, my point is enforcement on the Crest tends to target a particular group of motorists, primarily motorcyclists. LEO’s are frequently observed issuing tickets for minor vehicle infractions if they cannot observe the motorcyclist committing a moving violation. It’s not that mirrors and turn signals aren’t important. It’s just that a rider can go the entire year and not be pulled over for a turn signal which doesn’t meet DOT standards, but will be pulled over on the Crest for this. If enforcement is purported to be equal across L.A. County, then this disparity would seem to be indicative of selective harassment.