Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe SACRAMENTO, Feb. 1 (UPI) -- California Highway Patrol officers are too busy attending car crashes to enforce the law issuing tickets, the San Jose Mercury News said Tuesday. A state legislative report found the equivalent of nearly 500 uniformed officers are taken away from patrols each year to handle fender-benders and file time-consuming reports. Advertisement And while the number of licensed drivers in California nearly doubled between 1970 and 2003 from 11.6 million to 22.7 million, the patrol issued just 7 percent more citations, from around 2.27 million 30 years ago to 2.44 million in 2003. Since 1993, the number of collisions has increased by almost 30 percent, or 52,000 -- and has risen each of the last four years, surpassing 227,000. Apart from the loss of enforcement, there's a morale factor for the force. "Any officer will tell you they don't like the paperwork," said CHP officer Michael Wright. "We'd rather be out there making things safe, and not sitting at a keyboard."
