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Police present traffic-collision data; council asks staff to follow up with Caltrans on signals
Summary
Police presented three years of collision data showing consistent totals and identified high-frequency intersections. The department described enforcement tools and an Office of Traffic Safety grant; council asked staff to follow up with Caltrans on signal jurisdiction and consider moving a message board to deter speeding on Central Avenue.
The Fillmore Police Department presented traffic collision statistics at the Feb. 11 council meeting and outlined enforcement and education efforts aimed at reducing crashes.
Police Chief Malagon (presentation) said the department records collisions in a Crossroads report-writing system. The city saw 146 collisions in 2022, 142 in 2023 and 144 in 2024, with injury and noninjury collisions roughly consistent year to year. The presentation listed the top intersections for collisions and showed higher counts during daytime and afternoon hours and in summer months.
“Crossroads… pulls different data points that they need out of that — locations of traffic collisions, the type of collisions, the day of the week, hour of the day, the frequency,” the chief said. He identified unsafe speed and unsafe turning movements as common contributing factors.
The department described tools used to address traffic safety: motor unit deployments borrowed from larger stations, patrol traffic enforcement when calls for service allow, cadet deployments, message-board trailer deployments, and grant-funded overtime and checkpoints through Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) grants. The agency expects about $53,000 from OTS this cycle, which is used for DUI checkpoints, saturation patrols, pedestrian and bicycle enforcement, and school traffic safety presentations.
Councillors asked whether state or city agencies control signal timing at specific intersections. Staff said signal jurisdiction for the state highway (126) lies with Caltrans and that the city engineer is following up with Caltrans; staff said they would share Caltrans’ response with council.
Councilmembers also requested placement adjustments to a message board on Central Avenue to locate it where drivers are more likely to slow, rather than where traffic already slows, to deter speeding in a residential corridor.
The data and enforcement presentation concluded with staff describing ongoing monthly reporting to the council and asking residents to report chronic issues and observe traffic laws.
No policy action was taken; staff will follow up with Caltrans on signal jurisdiction and consider message-board placement changes.
