Moraga's Road Warriors

Orinda resident Allan Boyd got a taste of the Road Warrior mentality as he was returning from work one night when a black Porsche Boxster overtook him at speed on Moraga Way.

"I was in line with another car, making the merge there at Moraga Way and Overhill when this guy comes up on my left, revving his Boxster and moving me off the road," Boyd says. "I had nowhere to go but onto the right shoulder, I beeped my nerdy little horn but he kept coming and I had to hit the brakes to keep from hitting the fence line."

Boyd said he gave chase a while, following the Boxter as it tailgated another car up Moraga Way into Moraga, unable to pass. 

"He turned off into the neighborhood across from the nursery," Boyd said.  "A real nerdy-looking guy, picture of the corporate accountant.  I commented on his driving skills as I passed but I could see he was laughing and having a great time on his hands-free when I went by. I don't think he even knew I was there."

Lamorinda Patch hears this sort of thing a lot. Moraga police responded to a two-car crash at Moraga Road and Alta Mesa this afternoon. No injuries in this latest demolition derby, but someone's insurance premiums are about to go up.

So, how is it out there these days?  You have only to listen to our readers, or the police, to get a sense that driving - once controlled by stringent rules and an implied sense of civility towards one's fellow motorists - has degraded into something more akin to bloodsport.

"My husband told me of one (crash) last night around 7 or 7:30 on Moraga Way near the Orinda fire station," said Lamorinda Patch reader Mary Cosola.  "He said the police were routing traffic through the church parking lot near there. Any details?"

Well, Mary, it appears that that crash was just the one before the one this afternoon - and several others before that. And if you check out the police logs, you find that those crashes are just the latest of a string of incidents and crashes that have left police and residents shaking their heads.

On July 13 Moraga police were called to Corliss and Camino Ricardo in answer to reports that someone had just crashed into a tree there. Officers arrived to find that the driver of the car was attempting to flee the scene, a difficult endeavor given the level of his intoxication. Officers talked it over with the lad, who said he'd let an unknown person drive the car and that it was that person who had crashed the car and left the scene.  The "Mystery Driver" scenario is one commonly encountered by police, we're told.

A few days earlier, on July 11, a Moraga officer was standing in the parking lot of the 7-Eleven store on Moraga Road at 9:54 p.m. when he saw a blue Chrysler van turning into the parking lot, a cell phone pressed to his ear.  The officer stopped the van and smelled alcohol on the driver, arresting him when a field test showed he was over the legal limit.  The "Distracted and Drunk" scenario is also pretty common, we're told.

On July 9, officers were sent to Moraga Way and St. Andrews after neighbors reported seeing a car strike a light pole and end up on the lawn just west of Moraga Valley Lane.  The driver told police he had fallen asleep.  It was 8:05 a.m.

On July 5, police stopped a 2005 Jeep Limited at Moraga Road and Devin Drive after the officer noticed the car's windshield was cracked.  A discussion with the 53-year-old Walnut Creek man behind the wheel revealed that he had just been cited by Orinda police for the windshield, that his registration was expired and that he had peeled a 2011 registration tag from an unsuspecting Honda Accord in the Heather Farm parking lot to buy him more time on the road.  He told police he didn't have the money to pay his prior citation, for his registration or for his insurance. The "Poor but Creative" driver is also a frequently encountered Road Warrior.

And then on June 30 police focused on a silver 2008 Honda Pilot after they observed it going 57 mph in a 35 mph zone on Moraga Way, swerve into the left turn lane for Ivy Drive to pass a slower vehicle and blow through a red light in the process.  Apparently it took a little bit to gain the driver's attention but when the 37-year-old Orinda man did pull over, "signs of alcohol intoxication" were noted.

Officer's also quickly noted that the driver, who was on probation for a prior drunk driving charge,  had his 18-month-old daughter in the rear seat.  He was cited and released on a promise to appear after he recorded a blood alcohol level of .19 percent (with .08 considered passing) and was picked up by the police station by his wife.

Additional charges of suspected child endangerment are pending, police say, and that's another thing they see a lot of on the roads these days - "Care-less and Care-free" drivers who couldn't care less who they hurt.