Police Take Offensive on Intoxicated Pedestrians

Tackling what is one of the most perplexing causes of pedestrian accidents, Santa Ana police this month will take the unusual step of visiting bars and liquor stores across the city in an effort to raise awareness about the dangers of walking the streets while drunk.

The program, considered among the first in the nation, comes amid new evidence of the role drunkenness plays in pedestrian fatalities.

A Times analysis of state accident data found that alcohol or drug use was the primary factor in only 6% of the crashes that Santa Ana police blamed on pedestrians.

But in fatal accidents, alcohol plays a much larger role, both in Santa Ana and nationally. From 1984 to 1993 in the United States, half of the pedestrians who died after being hit by motor vehicles had been drinking, according to a study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In Santa Ana, five of the seven pedestrian killed last year were drunk, according to police.

“These deaths . . . were all preventable,” said Police Sgt. Raul Luna.

The police effort will focus primarily on bartenders and liquor store clerks. Officers will go door-to-door urging workers not to sell alcohol to people who appear drunk--even if they don’t arrive by car.

Officers will also distribute literature and placards both inside establishments and in the community. The fliers urge people to call police if they see a drunken pedestrian.

The program builds on other efforts to improve safety in a city with the highest pedestrian fatality rate in Southern California. Last year the city began more jaywalking patrols and a public-education campaign.

Though the total number of pedestrian injuries dropped from 170 in 1998 to 144 in 1999, the number of fatalities increased from five to seven, according to a UC Irvine study. Police worry that previous accident reduction efforts are not reaching some of the most vulnerable pedestrians.

Injury-prevention experts said the program will be unique. While drunk-driving prevention programs are common, few cities have attempted to address the problem of inebriated pedestrians, they said.

“It is a good idea, because [alcohol] servers are in a position to identify people that have had too much to drink and help them get home some other way,” said Craig Anderson, an epidemiologist with the UC Irvine Pediatric Injury Prevention Research Group.

Many of the fatal pedestrian accidents in Santa Ana last year occurred under similar circumstances.

Most happened on busy commercial thoroughfares between the hours of 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., according to police. In many cases, the victim tried to cross the street mid-block while drunk.

One man was hit while toting a beer can. Another man’s blood-alcohol level was four times the state’s legal limit for driving.

Along West 1st Street, a one-mile stretch of road that accounts for nearly a fourth of all Santa Ana’s pedestrian accidents in the last three years, reaction to the Police Department’s plans was mixed.

Oralia Leon, a cashier at Atlas Market-Liquor, said anything the city can do to prevent the accidents is a good idea.

“When people are drunk and they come in to get more, I think that they are going to kill somebody or themselves,” Leon said.

But others said police efforts are wasteful and will likely prove futile.

Jesse Maldonaldo, owner of Plaza Liquor near Bristol Street, thinks the city is unfairly targeting alcohol providers. Maldonaldo said he and other stores already know the rules about not selling to those intoxicated. He said the city would be better served by installing more traffic signals and crosswalks.

“The thing is, the pedestrians will cross the street no matter what,” Maldonaldo said. “They see the cars coming and they still cross. The area’s already heavily patrolled and the police give tickets. The liquor is not the problem. I don’t think it’s fair that they try to blame people who sell liquor.”