Manteca residents died last year and suffered bigger financial losses from traffic accidents on city streets than from property crimes.

Manteca Police statistics for 2019 indicate six people died in car accidents while three were murdered. The accidents were a mixture of the fault of the driver of the vehicle that the fatal occurred in or another driver. In the case of the murders, the accused were known by the victims.

There were 1,192 property crimes involving theft and burglary that impacted Manteca residents directly as compared to 1,065 accidents.

There is a significant gap between dollar impacts of property crimes versus financial losses from vehicle accidents.

The overall value of property stolen in 2019 was pegged at $4,767,511.  Of that, 39.7 percent or $1,894,363 worth of property was recovered leaving a net loss of $2.9 million.

The Manteca Police does not track financial losses associated with vehicle accidents.

Based on data gleaned by the Insurance Information Institute from 2018 — the last year accident loss information for the United States overall was available — an average accident incurred $3,574 in collision losses. In injury related accidents, the average financial cost related to medical services including treatment and ambulance costs was $15,785 per injury accident.

Based on 1,065 accidents in Manteca the collision losses were at $3.8 million in 2019. There were 256 injury accidents. That means the losses based on the Insurance Information Institute data was another $4.04 million for medical related losses. Those figures do not include wage losses for missing work due to injuries. Nor does it include increased insurance premiums or catastrophic losses tied in fatalities, of which Manteca had six last year, that easily run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Just between the average collision and medical, Manteca residents lost $7.8 million last year opposed to $2.9 million from property crime.

Manteca Police statistics over the past decade along with National Traffic Safety Administration data underscore the fact you are more likely to die, be maimed, and suffer greater financial loss from traffic accidents that are almost all preventable than from crime.

*Crime has been dropping in Manteca while traffic accidents have been increasing.

*There were more than 2.9 accidents a day on average during 2019 in Manteca that got the attention of the police department. (Manteca Police do not respond to make reports on fender benders in parking lots and similar accidents.) That was a 33 percent increase over 2009. There were 1,065 traffic accidents in Manteca in 2019 compared to 675 in 2009.

*There were 58 percent less citations for moving violations issued in 2019 (1,422) compared to 2009 (3,458). Accidents are up double digits, moving violation tickets are down double digits.

*More people die in a given year in Manteca in traffic accidents than from homicide. Given most murder victims know their killers meaning your chances of getting killed by a stranger are significantly greater driving, bicycling or walking down the street in Manteca than it is during the commission of a crime.

*Twenty-two  people died in traffic collisions from 2014 through 2019 in Manteca whether they were auto versus pedestrian, vehicle versus vehicle or solo accidents. There were six deaths each in 2014 and 2019, four deaths in 2015, four deaths in 2017, and two deaths in 2018. That is more deaths combined on Manteca’s streets than were recorded in the previous 12 years.

*There were 8.5 times more traffic collisions in Manteca during 2018 than aggravated assaults — 946 versus 111. That means your personal safety is jeopardized 850% more while driving, bicycling or walking than it is by criminals.

*Manteca now has five officers dedicated to traffic enforcement — the same as in 2008. The unit was cut to three in 2009 due to the Great Recession. A fourth position was restored last year and a fifth officer last month. Now, for the first time in a decade, there is dedicated traffic enforcement on the weekends in Manteca.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com