Starting on Memorial Day weekend, the Ventura Area CHP office will have extra officers patrolling several areas in western Ventura County in response to the high number of speed related injury traffic collisions involving motorcycles.

This enhanced enforcement effort is part of the CHP’s statewide “California Motorcycle Safety Enforcement and Education (CMSEE) Program. Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The focus of this grant is to reduce the number of injury traffic collisions involving motorcycles in CHP jurisdiction through enforcement and motorcycle safety education. The grant also requires that each CHP area identify and concentrate enforcement efforts on locations where motorcycle involved traffic collisions are highest. In Ventura Area, the following locations have been identified for focused enforcement effort under the CMSSE grant due to the high number of motorcycle involved traffic collisions:

Locations	Fatal Collisions (2007-2012)	Injury Collisions (2007-2012)
State Route 1 (Pacific Coast Highway) south of Las Posas Rd. to the Los Angeles County Line	6	43
State Route 33 north of Ojai	7	81
State Route 150 (from State Route 33 to the Santa Barbara County Line)	1	39
State Route 150 between Ojai and Santa Paula	1	24

Due to its scenic coastal and mountainous roadways, Ventura County is a popular destination for motorcyclists on weekends. Over 70 percent of the injury motorcycle collisions on the above roadways occurred on Saturday or Sunday. Injury motorcycle collisions account for more than 70 percent of the total injury collisions that occurred on State Route 33 north of Ojai between 2007 and 2012. Nearly 90 percent of these motorcycle involved traffic collisions are caused by unsafe speed. In an effort to reduce the number of speed related injury motorcycle traffic collisions in western Ventura County, Ventura Area CHP officers will conduct enhanced motorcycle speed enforcement under the CMSEE grant on weekends.

With summer approaching, Captain Bob Ghiglieri, Commander of the Ventura Area CHP office, reminds motorcyclists to ride safely and watch their speed. The CHP also recommend that motorcyclists wear safety gear and seek professional training before beginning to ride. The patrol offers safety courses for beginning motorcycle riders and others who want to improve their skills. For more information about the classes, visit http://www.ca-msp.org