Hollister
– The California Highway Patrol released statistics for the 2007
Hollister Motorcycle Rally on Tuesday that show the number of
vehicle crashes was down significantly but citations almost doubled
from the last official rally weekend.
Hollister – The California Highway Patrol released statistics for the 2007 Hollister Motorcycle Rally on Tuesday that show the number of vehicle crashes was down significantly but citations almost doubled from the last official rally weekend.
Capt. Brent Newman, of the Hollister-Gilroy area office of the CHP, said this year’s rally weekend was safer than previous years and, from a law enforcement perspective, was a success.
There were four crashes in San Benito County during the 2007 rally, while there were 13 crashes in 2005, the last official rally before this year.
“The downside to that is we had that one fatal on Pacheco Pass,” Newman said, referring to a motorcycle crash that killed a woman on July 8, the last day of the rally.
Citations were down this year from 2006, but almost doubled from 2005 during the rally weekend. In 2005, there were 413 citations, and this year there were 795, according the CHP. In 2006, there were 1,382 CHP citations when authorities faced the uncertainty of the unofficial rally.
Officer Chris Armstrong, a public information officer for the Hollister-Gilroy area office of the CHP, said the CHP had a stronger presence in the county in 2006 because of that.
Motorcycle rally-related crashes were down only one in the two-year span, from seven in 2005 to six this year in both Santa Clara and San Benito counties. There has been at least one fatality every year that Hollister has held an official rally since 1997. In 2006 there was no rally and no fatalities.
Armstrong did say the CHP was more visible on the roads during the 2007 rally weekend, causing motorists to slow down and drive safer.
Although citations doubled this year from 2005, Newman said people were not upset like some were last year.
“I did not receive a single complaint either during or after the rally,” said Newman, adding, “I really attribute that to the professionalism of the officers.”
In 2005, the CHP could not focus on traffic patrol because officers had other assignments, Armstrong said.
“There were a couple of large incidents that year which would detract from in-view patrol,” Armstrong said.
At one point during the 2005 rally, CHP officers made a barricade to prevent a fight between the Hells Angels and Mongols, two groups authorities consider to be outlaw biker gangs.
