Coronavirus pandemic results in less traffic accidents in Yorba Linda; north county voters continue embrace of mail-in ballots

Yorba Linda has experienced a significant reduction in traffic-related accidents since the governor's mid-March stay-at-home declaration, according to a series of reports compiled by the county Sheriff's Department and presented to the city's Traffic Commission.

Only 11 collisions and other incidents on the 20-square-mile city's more than 200 miles of roadways were reported from the governor's March 19 order through the month of April, deputy Luke Sapolu has reported to commissioners.

Of the 11, four were collisions – two with injuries – and seven were incidents where no official reports were taken because “a report was not warranted or the parties exchanged information,” Sapolu noted in his reports to the five City Council-appointed commissioners.

By contrast, 102 collisions and incidents were reported from Jan. 1 through March 18. The total included 9 collisions and 15 incidents in January, 18 collisions and 26 incidents in February and 12 collisions and 22 incidents in March before the governor's declaration.

Traffic-related accidents for 2019 also eclipsed the current numbers, with 51 reported in March, 31 in April and 31 in May. The May 2020 numbers are expected to be reported to commissioners at their monthly meeting scheduled for June 25.

The accident numbers for January and February 2019 were 40 and 51, respectively. Cause factors reported for accidents for both 2019 and 2020 were mostly hit-and-runs and unsafe speeds and turns.

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Voters in Yorba Linda and six other north county cities are increasingly embracing the option to cast their votes on mail-in ballots, a trend that's likely to continue for the upcoming November general election due to coronavirus concerns.

North county's registered voters – numbering 248,307 at last count – cast a record number of mail-in ballots in the March 3 primary, the first county-wide election for which all registered voters were issued a mail-in ballot by the county Registrar of Voters.

Yorba Linda's voters cast close to 80% of their ballots as mail-ins in the primary, with the remainder cast at one of the county's 180 voting centers (19%) or other early vote locations (1%).

Mail-in figures for other north county cities in March were 82% in Brea, 77% in Buena Park and La Palma, nearly 78% in Fullerton and Placentia and 76% in La Habra.

The percentage of mail-in ballots cast in each north county city inched up in the two previous county-wide elections, the November 2018 mid-term ballot and the 2016 presidential election.

In those contests, mail-in ballots were issued to voters who had requested permanent vote-by-mail status or who had requested a mail-in ballot for a specific election.

Mail-in vote percentages in 2016 and 2018: Brea, 55% in 2016 and 61% in 2018; Buena Park, 52% and 60%; Fullerton, 54% and 61%; La Habra, 48% and 56%; La Palma, 53% and 58%; Placentia, 55% and 63%; and Yorba Linda, 57% and 62%.