Police: No trend in car crashes

Since the end of July there have been four serious wrecks in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa involving alleged drunk drivers. The crashes include one that resulted in the death of a 6-year-old boy and another in which a teenager was badly hurt.

Although local police recognize the recent high number of crashes believed to be caused by drunk drivers, they say it’s not an unusually high number.

“In 26 years of law enforcement … I’ve seen periods in time when we have had more DUI accidents,” Newport Beach Police Lt. Jim Kaminsky said.

The alleged DUI-related accidents come at a time when local police say they’re continually stepping up drunk driving enforcement with increased patrols and DUI checkpoints.

“If those things were not in place, what would happen? Then the numbers would simply increase,” said Paulo Morales, a Cypress police officer and president of the Orange County chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Just more than one week ago, 6-year-old Trevor Smith was killed when the car driven by his mother, Julie Ann Smith, smashed into a metal guardrail on the Corona del Mar Freeway (73). She was charged with vehicular manslaughter and child endangerment and abuse.

Two days after that fatal accident, a 17-year-old boy was hospitalized with serious injuries after he was pinned between two cars at a Newport Beach intersection while helping to push a stalled SUV out of traffic. Alicia Parker, 30, of Costa Mesa, allegedly drifted out of her lane and hit the boy.

On July 29, a Palm Desert-man was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving after he drove into Newport Harbor, authorities said. The man was not hurt.

Most recently, alcohol was believed to be a factor when a 25-year-old Costa Mesa man plowed his truck into two palm trees on a center divider in Newport Beach, police said.

Both Costa Mesa and Newport Beach Police said it’s not uncommon for the number of DUI-related accidents to increase during the summer. School is out, more tourists are in town; more traffic means more traffic problems, Costa Mesa Police Lt. Dave Andersen said.

Police insist their dedicated enforcement is working.

“In our city we’ve noticed a decrease, and I think perhaps it’s largely due in part to us having a full-time DUI team,” Andersen said.

Costa Mesa and Newport Beach police each have designated DUI enforcement teams funded by a grant from the state office of traffic safety. They also conduct DUI checkpoints throughout the year.