Behind the Wheel with Driver's Edge at Santa Anita Race Track

The non-profit driver education program, Driver's Edge, rolled into Arcadia over this past weekend, setting up their classroom on wheels and hands-on collision avoidance course at the Santa Anita Race Track.  The two-day event offers four, half-day, sessions where young drivers ages 15-21 are introduced to invaluable driving skills and techniques that could save their while driving.  The Driver's Edge program is funded through donations, corporate sponsorship, and grant monies.  The program is based out of Las Vegas, NV, and works closely with Nevada Office of Traffic Safety and Bridgestone.  Arcadia is one of the recurring stops for this national drivers education program.

Students and parents start out the session with an introduction to the program and instructors.  Each of the instructors are current or retired professional drivers from the racing industry.  The classroom welcome does not last long and the students hit the "track" quickly.

Throughout the session, there are two behind the wheel and two static learning components to the training:

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  ABS braking and collision avoidance which includes straight line and braking while turning, along with evasive maneuvering of the vehicle.
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  Vehicle dynamics which covers understeer/oversteer, maintaining control in a slide and proper recovery, and load transfer.
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  Vehicle walk-around, maintenance, and the importance of driver position, hand placement, and seating.
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  Interaction with Law Enforcement who cover legal issues, driving under the influence, and safety. 

The instructors interact with each student and give personal instruction and attention to each.  It is impressive to see the improvement with each pass a student makes on the course.  The student drivers range from having just obtained their permits to young adults who have been driving for four plus years.

The Driver's Edge program offers sound advice and instruction.  One acronym that the instruction teaches is D.R.I.V.E.

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  D - Develop  Develop proper driving habits, which includes always wearing your seat belt.  Avoid distractions and constantly check your mirrors and your surroundings.  Using your eyes properly is one of the most important rules in driving.  It is important to see and be seen.  Try and avoid driving in the blind spot of other drivers.
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  R- Recognize   A driver needs to be conditioned to recognize the constantly changing road and traffic conditions.  Use your eyes!  Proper use of vision is vital.
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  I - Identify  The next step is to identify those situations that may become hazardous; the vehicle merging on the freeway, the car pulling out into traffic, the vehicle turning left in front of you, etc.
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  V- Visualize  As those situations develop, visualize the steps necessary to avoid a collision situation.  How quickly can you stop?  Is it safe to switch lanes?  And so on.
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  E - Execute  Finally, execute whatever driving maneuvers are required to avoid a collision situation: change lanes, slow down, accelerate, etc.  If a collision avoidance situation occurs, this is where it's important to be aware of the true abilities, and the limitations, of both you and your vehicle.

Arcadia Police Department Traffic Officers Steve Crawford, John Jurman, and CJ Clark participated in the weekend events along with representatives from the California Highway Patrol.  The photo below includes APD Officers Jurman and Clark demonstrating a DUI test during their instruction.

About 700 participants took part in the event this weekend.  Thanks to the Santa Anita Race Track for providing the venue and thanks to Driver's Edge for providing the training and event itself.  Without the donations, sponsorship, and grant funding, Driver's Edge would not exist to provide much needed driver education to our youth!

Additional photos of the event can be found HERE.

Firefighters Pancake Breakfast and Arcadia Community Bike Ride

The Arcadia Firefighters Association will be hosting their Annual Pancake Breakfast on Saturday, May 1, 2010, from 7:00 am to noon.  The event will take place at AFD Station 106 located at the northeast corner of Baldwin Avenue and Huntington Drive.  There is plenty of convenient parking behind Station 106 at the Westfield Santa Anita Mall.  The AFFA puts on a great breakfast and there will be plenty of displays and booths to keep your family interested throughout the morning.

In addition to the Pancake Breakfast, Arcadia Recreation and Community Services will be conducting their Annual Community Bike Ride that morning.  The bike ride is family oriented and meanders slowly throughout Arcadia.  Meet-up with your bikes at the Community Center, 375 Campus Drive, Arcadia, and the ride will take off at about 7:30 am.  From experience, I would recommend that your younger riders be out of the training wheel stage and be able to ride slowly for about an hour.  There will be a short break in the ride at Baldwin Stocker School.  After the ride, your family can enjoy a hearty breakfast with friends and neighbors at Station 106!

Commercial Checkpoint

Traffic Officers from the Arcadia Police Department assisted members of the California Highway Patrol in conducting a Commercial Vehicle Checkpoint yesterday.  The checkpoint was conducted during the morning hours in the south end of Arcadia..  The purpose of this type of checkpoint is to conduct spot checks on commercial vehicles travelling on our roadways.  The CHP regularly inspects commercial vehicles on the highways and during on-site visits to larger companies, but many vehicles on local roadways go without being regularly inspected.  Without regular inspections and maintenance, commercial vehicles pose a potential risk to all those on our roadways.

The following stats were reported by APD Officers at the checkpoint:

• 45 commercial vehicles inspected.
• 11 vehicles placed "out of service."
• 5 vehicles towed for violations.
• Combined, there were approximately 100 equipment violations noted on citations.

Weekly Tip - Submit Tips by Phone, Text, or Web with "Crime Stoppers"

Los Angeles Regional Crime Stoppers was formed to give the Community an opportunity to pass on timely, relevant, and anonymous tips to local Law Enforcement.  Tips from you help in the fight to reduce crime and greatly enhance our ability to obtain information on suspects, potential threats to public safety, and to help prevent crime before it happens.

People are sometimes reluctant to contact the police and may shy away from reporting information for fear of retaliation.  Crime Stoppers gives you the opportunity to deliver tips anonymously while still making a difference in the fight on crime.  Tips can be made by phone, by text, or from the Internet.  Anyone submitting a tip is eligible to receive a cash reward if the information given leads to an arrest or criminal filing of a felony or misdemeanor offender.  The toll-free phone number to LA Crime Stoppers is (800) 222-TIPS.

The Arcadia Police Department is proud to be one of the numerous area police agencies participating in the Los Angeles Regional Crime Stoppers program.

Activity Highlights for April 11-17, 2010

http://www.ci.arcadia.ca.us/docs/1451272042010weekly_4-11.pdf

Residential Distraction Burglaries

Within the last month, we have had a couple reports of residential distraction burglaries occurring in the west end of town. A typical distraction burglary or theft will occur when one suspect engages the victim or resident in some form of activity to keep them busy. A second or third suspect will then commit the theft.

In these particular burglaries, the suspects claimed to be City or construction workers from the "water department." The suspects claimed that they needed to check the water at the residence and asked to enter. Upon entry, one of the suspects entered different rooms checking the water and the residents were kept occupied by the second suspect. The suspects communicated with hand-held radios. After a few minutes, the suspects said that they were done and left the residence. The victim later discovered that they have been burglarized. Loss has included money, jewelry, and other items to include a firearm.

The suspects have been described as possibly male Hispanics, about 40 years of age, average height, heavy set, dark skinned, and speaking with no accent. The suspects were not wearing uniform type clothing. Below is a composite of one of the suspects;

Anytime someone approaches you or comes to your residence, obtain identification and confirm their identity.  There are legitimate times when a City employee, gas, electric, telephone, or other service worker may require entrance to your exterior property.  These persons should be in some form of uniform and have identification.  Unless you placed the service call, do not allow anyone access to your home.  If the person is suspicious or uncooperative, immediately call the police.  Anyone with information should call APD Detectives at (626) 574-5160. 

Weekly Tip - Distracted Driving, "Put It Down!"

The US Department of Transportation (DOT) has launched a campaign to help combat "Distracted Driving."  DOT is encouraging Law Enforcement, community groups, schools, and everyone to become involved and spread the word of the dangers associated with distracted driving

"Distracted Driving" is any non-driving activity a person engages in that has the potential to distract him or her from the primary task of driving and increase the risk of crashing.  Using a cell phone without a "hands-free" device and texting are two of the most common examples of distracted driving.  However, grooming, changing your radio station or MP3 player, manipulating a GPS device, reading, eating are all other example of common activity that drivers engage in, placing themselves and others in harms way.

California law prohibits use of a cell phone while driving without using a "hands-free" device.  There are a few exceptions including in case of an emergency, for emergency service personnel, and for certain commercial purposes.  Texting is also prohibited in California.  California Vehicle Code sections 23123-23124 cover these violations.

Research on distracted driving reveals some surprising facts:

•Using a cell phone use while driving, whether it’s hand-held or hands-free, delays a driver's reactions as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08 percent. (Source: University of Utah)

•Driving while using a cell phone reduces the amount of brain activity associated with driving by 37 percent. (Source: Carnegie Mellon)

•Nearly 6,000 people died in 2008 in crashes involving a distracted driver, and more than half a million were injured. (NHTSA)

•The younger, inexperienced drivers under 20 years old have the highest proportion of distraction-related fatal crashes.

•Drivers who use hand-held devices are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves. (Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety)

 

Please join the campaign and help spread the word, "Put It Down!"