On the Skids in Carbon Canyon #s13131-?

Last Sunday morning, at between 12:15 and 12:45 a.m., two packs of vehicles, one of three and the other of six, came roaring through Carbon Canyon to make runs up and back with high speed and concomitant noise.  Though nearly a nightly occurrence by one or more cars, this was a particularly loud reminder of just how often dangerous driving is to be found on Carbon Canyon Road by people who act this way because there is no one to keep them from doing it.

Allegedly, a Chino Hills sheriff's department traffic sergeant told a local resident that patrols are not done at night, when these instances of unsafe driving mainly occur, because the department didn't want to have to deal with the dangers of car chases within the canyon. 

If true, this is a particularly stunning display of misplaced logic--why, then, would any law enforcement agency , the argument implies, do any patrolling because car chases are going to happen in some instances.  The flip side of the tortured application of logic, though, is the assumption that, somehow, patrolling automatically = car chases. 

Meanwhile, crashes still take place.  A couple of weeks ago, a neighbor related, a car going eastbound on Carbon Canyon Road decided to continue straight despite the double yellow lines in the center and the white lines on the edges of the state highway suggesting otherwise and crashed into Carbon Creek in Sleepy Hollow near the former liquor store property.

A recent crash along Carbon Canyon Road across from the old La Vida Mineral Springs property left residue from fluids from the single car incident and some debris very visible on the shoulder.  The damaged utility box in the foreground is from a previous wreck.  This is a particularly common area for collisions on both side of the state highway.

A few days ago, a single car mishap took place very close to the scene of September's fatal accident, at a spot where many a collision has happened over the years, this being right across the street from the entrance to the old La Vida motel and baths complex in Brea.

Another common problem spot is the multi-leveled S-curve on the Chino Hills side near the Carriage Hills and Summit Ranch subdivisions.  Efforts to protect power lines there include two concrete barriers and a very large tree stump.  At least two or more efforts in recent weeks and months to break through this protection have yielded the near-removal of one of the barriers.

Finally, on that Sunday when the two groups of racing cars made their runs through the Canyon, a westbound vehicle slammed into a berm across from the entrance to Chino Hills State Park, leaving scattered dirt, rocks, bits of the car and damage to reflectors, as well as deep skid marks.

As the Madrona project makes its way to a final hearing on an appeal to the Brea City Council, traffic has been one of the main unavoidable significant impacts, this being measured, of course, in terms of volume during busy commuting hours on weekdays. 

There are, however, avoidable and quite significant impacts of another kind that loom should this project be approved and someday built, especially as the sole entrance to the proposed 162- unit ridge-top development would be on a curvy section of Carbon Canyon Road just east of the former Manely Friends stable, where sight lines, not good for almost the entire Brea portion of the Canyon, are particularly bad, especially westbound.

It would seem there have been enough documented collisions and crashes, not just here by elsewhere, to warrant at least a modicum of patrolling on both the Brea and Chino Hills sides to discourage dangerous driving.  With more development happening in the Canyon, including the recent work begun on the 76-unit Canyon Hills development just east of Sleepy Hollow in Chino Hills, the likelihood of more destruction might stir someone into action.

Or, will playing the percentages as public policy predominate?