Los Angeles drivers, cyclists, and scooter riders are getting some extra attention at a handful of the city’s most notorious crash corners, as LAPD traffic officers fan out in a bid to stop a rise in serious wrecks. Motor officers have been running focused operations this week, pulling over distracted drivers and zeroing in on risky moves by people on e-bikes and e-scooters. The department says the stepped-up patrols are meant to cut injuries and deaths at intersections that keep showing up on crash reports.
What LAPD Says Is Going Wrong On The Roads
So far this year, the Los Angeles Police Department says there have been 750 traffic crashes that resulted in a serious injury or death, roughly a 5% increase from the same period last year, and 54 crashes involving a car and an e-bike, according to ABC7. Sgt. Ryan Klepper, who supervises the motor officers, watched drivers rolling through signals and told the station, “That’s a red light right there.” Capt. Anthony Espinoza of the West Traffic Division added that many younger scooter and e-bike riders do not have licenses or formal training, a gap officers say feeds dangerous behavior on sidewalks and at signals.
How City Data Shapes The Crackdown
City transportation officials say tickets are only one piece of the safety puzzle, and that engineering fixes and targeted projects are supposed to follow the crash numbers. LADOT’s Vision Zero program highlights a “High Injury Network,” a relatively small share of streets where a big share of deaths and severe injuries occur, and officials use that map to decide where to prioritize safety interventions, according to LADOT.
Where Officers Are Zeroing In
The LAPD has flagged a short list of repeat hotspots this year: Figueroa Street and 7th Street downtown (11 crashes), Highland Avenue and Pat Moore Way near the Hollywood Bowl (6), Century Boulevard and Main Street in South L.A. (5), and Sherman Way at the 170 Freeway entrance in the San Fernando Valley (5), according to ABC7. Officers said the targeted stops are aimed at catching distracted drivers, red-light runners and other violations they often see just before serious crashes. The department told reporters that motorists should expect more visible enforcement at or near those junctions while operations continue.
What Drivers, Riders And Pedestrians Should Know
People can expect to see more motor officers in the named corridors, along with occasional saturation stops that pull over multiple drivers at once. Officers say that, where possible, enforcement will be paired with data-driven street safety work from transportation officials. The spike in e-bike and e-scooter injuries has already drawn attention from local outlets and hospitals, an issue Hoodline covered in April when it reported rising severe e-bike trauma across the city. Riders are urged to wear helmets, know their bike’s class and obey traffic laws, while drivers are being reminded to slow down, avoid distractions and give extra space at crosswalks and transit stops.
