40% Of Serious Agoura Hills Crashes Are Caused By Aggressive Driving

AGOURA HILLS, CA — Some 40 percent of fatal or serious crashes in Agoura Hills between 2015 and 2019 were caused by aggressive driving, staff reported during its July 13 City Council meeting.

City staff on Wednesday presented the findings of an extensive traffic safety analysis which identified common safety challenges in the city and identified potential solutions. The council unanimously approved the Local Roadway Safety Plan, which will help the city qualify for state funding.

The plan only outlined two immediate mitigation steps that would require state funding: two pedestrian crossings on Reyes Adobe Road at Stone Crest and Rainbow Crest. Any other suggestions in the plan would come before the council again before funding applications were sent.

Some 20 percent of all crashes within city limits between 2015 and 2019 were caused by unsafe speed and 18 percent were caused by improper or illegal turning, according to Jessica Forte, Agoura Hills' Director of Public Works and City Engineer.

The city also identified challenge areas by looking at the city's fatal, or otherwise serious, collisions between 2015 and 2019. Some 40 percent of these crashes occurred at signalized intersections, which is 16 percent higher than the state's average. Aggressive driving accounted for 33 percent of the city's serious or fatal collisions. 50 percent of the city's fatal or serious crashes involved pedestrians or bicyclists.

Some drafted mitigation ideas for traffic hazards included roundabouts, additional speed bumps, protected left turns and improved pedestrian crossings and markings on roads. Any of these projects would have to be handled separately by the city, but the plan offers the city a roadmap for funding.

The road safety plan drafting included a collision analysis, meetings between safety partners and a drafting process. The city evaluated three different intersections that were somewhat representative of most Agoura Hills intersections including: Reyes Adobe Road and Stonecrest Drive; Lake Lindero Drive and Thousand Oaks Boulevard; Kanan Road and Thousand Oaks Boulevard; Driver Avenue and Conejo View Drive; and Canwood Street west of Reyes Adobe Road.

Each of these spots was analyzed and designated a specific mitigation effort to offer the city a template for dealing with a number of intersections.