Drunk driving deaths in California dropped for a third straight year in 2008, the state Office of Traffic Safety said Thursday, but motorcycle fatalities continued a decade-long rise that mirrors national trends.
Overall, traffic deaths dropped by 14% in 2008, to 3,434, the state said, using figures released last month by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Alcohol-related deaths accounted for slightly less than one-third of the total, and were down 9.1% — a slightly smaller decline than for the nation as a whole. Over three years, drunk driving deaths in California were down nearly 21%.
California Highway Patrol Commissioner Joe Farrow attributed the decline “to hard, innovative work in education, enforcement, engineering and emergency medical services.”
State officials expressed concern, however, over the increase in motorcycle fatalities, which rose 8.1% to 560. They have more than doubled since beginning to rise in 1998. The increase has been driven by a roughly similar rise in motorcycle ridership, although state officials also attribute the problem to a new generation of bigger, faster, more powerful bikes.
"Whereas every other category of vehicle deaths is going down, motorcycles are going up," said Chris Cochran, a spokesman for the Office of Traffic Safety. He said the rise in fatalities was especially noticeable among young men — who have "a lot of testosterone" and the bikes to match — and among men in their 50s and older who are returning to motorcycles after decades of not riding, and often choosing much larger bikes than they rode in their youth.
"We’re seeing the need for training with these new bikes," Cochran said, "and just training on handling a motorcycle in general."
Two men are in custody after a high-speed police chase this morning through the Westside that went off-road and in the wrong direction before coming to a halt in Mid-City.
A woman died this morning when the car she was driving crashed into a trash truck near a Harbor Freeway overpass in Wilmington.
The 6 a.m. crash near Pacific Coast Highway and Figueroa Street forced the closure of the highway from Figueroa to Wilmington Boulevard, said Sgt. Jeff Hamilton of the Los Angeles Police Department.
The cause of the accident was under investigation. Hamilton did not know whether the trash truck driver was hurt.
If you're driving on the freeway and see one of those Amber Alert signs lighted up, it's because law enforcement authorities are looking for a Las Vegas woman suspected of abducting her four children.
Workers will be drilling into the earth and collecting soil samples beginning today as part of a study of the proposed subway to the Westside.
Soil samples will be collected today at Wilshire Boulevard and Stanley Drive today in Beverly Hills and later this week in Hollywood, Century City and the Miracle Mile. According to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the drilling is designed to "assess conditions below the ground" for the Westside subway extension's environmental impact report.
L.A. transit officials for decades dreamed of building the "Subway to the Sea," a project that would connect L.A.'s rail transit system to the Westside. The original plan was for the subway to run down Wilshire Boulevard, but there are now several alternative routes.
It remains unclear whether officials can afford to build the project. The MTA is now in the process of building the Expo Line into the Westside, a light rail line that would go from downtown L.A. to Culver City and eventually to Santa Monica.
MTA officials hope a new partnership with Google Maps will make it easier for passengers to plan trips using the agency's buses and trains.
The MTA is the latest transit agency to join forces with Google to connect transit information on the interactive maps. According to the MTA, users will be able to get bus and train route information, schedules and stop locations using Google maps.
Passengers can type in dates, times and destinations into the map and get trip information, including transfer options and lists of landmarks along the routes.
“We have listened to our customers and have provided the Google transit planning resource they have requested,” MTA chief Art Leahy said in a statement. “As the third-largest transportation agency in the United States, it made perfect sense for us to join the Google phenomenon. We are extremely excited to now be a part of the most popular online mapping website in the world, and we have high hopes that a worldwide audience will now be able to more easily plan their Metro trips here in Los Angeles.”
[Updated at 12:45 p.m.: LAist has a roundup about other local transit agencies and their plans for Google Maps. The Los Angeles Department of Transportation is hopeful its DASH shuttles will be part of the MTA's bus feed, and other agencies including those in Santa Monica, Santa Clarita and Culver City are interested.]
Santa Monica will reduce by half the number of taxicabs operating in the city in an effort to curb traffic congestion and pollution. A law dictating the reduction was approved June 30 by the City Council.
Under the law approved unanimously by the council, the city would grant franchises to only those companies with at least 25 cabs and cap the total number of cabs at 250. That would limit the number of companies that would qualify to eight, although smaller companies can band together to form a franchise.
To qualify, franchised companies must have a centralized dispatching system, hire trained drivers who are proficient in English and maintain newer fleets. Preference will be given to companies that are locally based, have fuel-efficient fleets and offer vouchers to seniors and the disabled.
Photo: Taxis on Santa Monica Boulevard in Santa Monica. The city is trying to
figure out to regulate an over-abundance of taxis. Credit: Anne Cusack/Los Angeles Times
The recession appears to easing Los Angeles' notorious traffic problems somewhat, according to a new study that found the region continues to have the nation's worst commute.
According to data released from the Texas Transportation Institute, the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana region saw slight declines in annual traffic delays and excess fuel consumption. The report looked at 2007 data, the most recent available.
The findings underscore a Times analysis of traffic patterns last year. The Times found evidence that commute times were decreasing and freeway speeds in some areas were increasing.
The institute found a similar trend in other parts of the nation and attributed the small dips in traffic to the economy and fuel prices.
"Though it might have been hard to notice, traffic congestion took a
break from its worsening trend even before the current recession, with
high gas prices in the last half of 2007 bringing about a slight
reduction in traffic," the organization said in a statement. "The recession that took hold soon after could
prolong that effect, but experts warn that the slowdown in congestion
growth will be temporary. When the economy rebounds, expect traffic
problems to do the same."
The Los Angeles area continued to have the worse congestion in the country, according to the report, followed by New York; Chicago; Atlanta; Miami; Dallas-Fort Worth; Washington, D.C.; the Bay Area; Houston; and Detroit.
Six people were injured, one of them critically, in a five-car collision on the eastbound 91 Freeway in Long Beach early this morning, authorities said.
Firefighters responded to the report of an injury accident and a vehicle on fire shortly before 5 a.m. on the freeway at Paramount Boulevard, said spokesman Jackawa Jackson on the Long Beach Fire Department’s blog.
“There were five vehicles involved in the collision," Jackson said.
The car was on fire when firefighters arrived, but the driver managed to climb out before it was engulfed in flames. About a dozen firefighters spent 10 minutes trying to extricate a passenger from one of the wrecked car.
Five people suffered moderate to minor injuries, and one was critically injured. All but two were treated at nearby hospitals.
The cause of the crash was under investigation by the California Highway Patrol.
Glendale City Councilman Ara Najarian on Wednesday replaced Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as chairman of the board of directors for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Najarian, who has been an attorney for 20 years, was elected to the Glendale council in 2005 and served as mayor in 2007 and 2008. In addition to his three years as an MTA board member, Najarian's transportation experience includes service on the Glendale Transportation and Parking Commission and the board of directors for Metrolink.
Najarian, 48, will head the policy-making body for the third largest transportation agency in the United States. The chairmanship of the MTA board rotates annually among the mayor of Los Angeles, county supervisors and representatives from cities across the county.
A suspected arson fire consumed about 25 acres of brush in U.S. Forest Service land north of Castaic, prompting closure of northbound lanes of Interstate 5 at rush hour today, a Los Angeles County Fire Department spokesman said.
No structures were threatened or evacuations ordered, said Inspector Steve Zermeno.
At least three helicopters and a first-alarm unit comprising more than 100 people were dispatched to the fire, Zermeno said.
The closure was backing up traffic for several miles.
Los Angeles and Culver City road crews expect by mid-July to complete work on a new northbound left turn lane on Sawtelle Boulevard at Venice Boulevard.
The two cities jointly received a grant from Metro for the $250,000 project at the congested corner.
Sawtelle is being widened on the west side from Venice to 200 feet to the south.
New left turn signals have been installed for northbound and southbound traffic on Sawtelle. The aim is to improve safety and traffic flow through the intersection.
Citing safety concerns for students, the board of the Los Angeles Unified School District unanimously decided to oppose the design of the Expo Light Rail Line, which would pass at street level near Overland Avenue and Charnock Road elementary schools.
Board members said they would not support the Expo Line unless the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority could eliminate all the safety hazards of operating light-rail trains near schools. They also directed the district's superintendent to exhaust all legal options while trying to resolve the Expo Line's safety issues.
The board resolution relates to the second phase of the project, which would run from Culver City to Santa Monica. Phase 1 from downtown Los Angeles to Culver City has already generated considerable controversy about street-level crossings near schools. That segment is under construction.
At least seven people suffered moderate injuries this morning when a Pasadena transit bus jumped the curb during a traffic collision and struck a bus bench, authorities said.
Spokeswoman Lisa Derderian of the Pasadena Fire Department said the accident occurred outside of the Pasadena Senior Center Home around 10:30 a.m. at the northeast corner of Raymond Avenue and Holly Street when a Toyota Camry and a city bus collided. The bus jumped the curb, knocking down a traffic pole, a FedEx drop-off box and the bus bench, Derderian said.
The cause of the accident is under investigation, she said.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the death this morning of a homeless man in Loma Linda, who was killed when a freight train struck him.
County coroner officials identified the man as 45-year-old Johnny Rogers, who was sitting on the tracks near Anderson Street and Stewart Avenue shortly after 1 a.m. when he was struck by a Union Pacific train, authorities said. Rogers was pronounced dead at the scene.
Engineers told deputies the train was traveling 20 to 25 mph and attempted to stop when they saw the man sitting on the tracks.
The Orange County Transportation Authority hired a new chief executive officer today -- the head of Caltrans.
Will Kempton has headed the California Department of Transportation for the last five years, overseeing 50,000 miles of state highways and directing $10 billion worth of transportation projects. He was appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Kempton has worked in the transportation industry for 35 years. He lives in Folsom but indicated he will move to Orange County. He will earn $255,00 a year to head OCTA. As the head of Caltrans, he earned roughly $150,000 a year.
He replaces former OCTA Chief Executive Art Leahy, who now heads the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
In Southern California, the automobile has long been synonymous with freedom. Need to go to the store? Jump in the car. Meeting friends for dinner? Not a problem.
But that's not easy to do in Westside communities, where drivers face some of the worst traffic conditions in the nation. As a result, people take longer routes, change routines, limit family outings or don't drive at all during certain times of the day.
For years, Los Angeles transportation officials have tried to get ahead of the problem by collecting traffic data at hundreds of intersections.
But they admit that they're not equipped to deeply analyze it because they lack enough staff.
The data do confirm, however, that Westside traffic is constantly changing. For example, last spring and summer -- with gasoline prices hovering around $4 a gallon -- traffic volumes saw double-digit drops as fewer people chose to drive. Then, as prices declined to around $2.28 a gallon, traffic volumes swung back up.
A 3 1/2-year-old girl was killed Saturday when her mother lost control of her sport utility vehicle and crashed into a tractor-trailer on the 5 Freeway in Mission Hills.
Mariana Ruiz, 50, of Bakersfield, driving a 1998 Ford Explorer, got on the freeway at San Fernando Mission Boulevard about 9:30 a.m., struck a light pole and then hit the big rig, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The CHP’s accident report concluded that Ruiz was "traveling at an unsafe speed for the wet road conditions."
The girl was pronounced dead at Holy Cross Hospital, said CHP Officer Francisco Villalobos.
A passenger, Juan Torres, 43, of Bakersfield, was injured.
The girl’s identity was not released. No arrests were made and alcohol was not a factor, the CHP said.
The South Pasadena Police Department has requested that more than 150 traffic citations issued Wednesday to drivers during a school bus sting be dismissed.
Designed to nab motorists who violated a vehicle code that requires drivers to stop for school buses with flashing red lights, the sting involved two police cadets walking on and off a school bus parked on Huntington Drive near Milan Avenue.
However, the vehicle code says drivers may not pass a school bus with its red lights flashing when it is “stopped for the purpose of loading or unloading any schoolchildren.”
After meeting with the city attorney, the Police Department decided this morning to ask the courts to dismiss the citations, which were reported earlier to be $500 each.
More than 160 people received $500 traffic citations Wednesday as part of an elaborate sting by the South Pasadena Police Department involving a decoy school bus complete with people walking on and off the vehicle.
The sting — designed to nab motorists who fail to stop for school buses with flashing red lights — has generated debate in the city. Some think the program was unfair, charging that the location was unusual for a school bus, the officers created a distraction, and there were no schoolchildren present.
“It was a crazy place for a school bus to be parked,” said Valerie McAndrews, whose 16-year-old daughter was among those cited. “You don’t stop in the middle of Huntington or you’re going to be rear-ended. In this particular instance I don’t think there was any way to obey the law.”
Others are supporting the effort, saying the city needs to crack down on drivers who don’t follow the rules. The yellow school bus first appeared on the busy six-lane road about 8 a.m. near the intersection of Milan Avenue, which has no stop sign or cross walk.
A motorist was seriously injured when someone threw a rock at his car on the 118 Freeway in Moorpark. Two other vehicles were also struck by rocks and damaged.
Nicolas Angell, 40, was driving westbound on the 118 just west of Princeton Avenue about 12:25 a.m. Thursday when a softball-sized rock thrown from the right shoulder of the roadway crushed his windshield and hit his face, Sgt. Mike Curtin of the California Highway Patrol's Moorpark station said. The rock broke several of Angell's teeth and caused multiple fractures to his face and nose, CHP officials said.
The transition road on a major freeway interchange reopened after being closed for days because of a truck explosion over the weekend.
Structural engineers have approval to reopen the 710-91 freeway transition after completing a variety of checks, according to Caltrans.
The truck was leaving the eastbound 91 to merge onto the northbound 710 [see map] at about 5:45 p.m. when it hit a guardrail, rolled onto its side and ignited in flames, the California Highway Patrol said in a statement.
The 51-year-old male driver of the vehicle was pronounced dead at the scene. His name has not been released.
[Updated at 1:15 p.m.: All lanes are now open, California Highway Patrol officials said.]
A Sig Alert was issued early this morning for the eastbound 210 Freeway near Arcadia after a semi-tractor trailer overturned just past Rosemead Boulevard. The semi spilled diesel fuel and its cargo, blocking the three right lanes, California Highway Patrol officials said.
The carpool lane and the one next to it have been reopened since the accident, which was reported at about 1:17 a.m., said CHP Officer Francisco Villalobos. The big rig was carrying about 40,000 pounds of produce, most of it lettuce.
Los Angeles County Fire Department officials said a hazardous material team was at the site cleaning up 150 gallons of diesel fuel. Caltrans crews were assisting in the cleanup.
The cause of the non-injury accident was under investigation. The Sig Alert will remain in effect until 10 a.m., Villalobos said.
A burglary suspect in North Hills who hid inside a small storm drain along the southbound 405 Freeway for almost 12 hours, causing a major traffic jam, has been taken into custody, authorities said.
The man was arrested immediately after being pulled from the culvert about 2:30 p.m., police said. He was taken to a nearby hospital for observation, said d’Lisa Davies, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Fire Department.
Two lanes of the freeway remain closed, and California Highway Patrol officials did not say when they would reopen.
The incident began about 3 a.m. when officers with the Los Angeles Police Department responded to a radio call of a burglary in progress at an auto parts warehouse near the freeway. Officers arrested one man, but a second fled on foot toward brush along the freeway, said LAPD Officer Bruce Borihanh.
The man then hid inside the storm drain to avoid capture, Borihanh said. The CHP closed all southbound lanes between Roscoe Boulevard and Sherman Way as officers searched the area. Two lanes were reopened by 6 a.m. but the others remained closed, CHP officials said.
-- Ruben Vives
Los Angeles Police, and Firefighter search and rescue teams work to
remove a burglary suspect hiding inside a storm drain, on Tuesday, June
16, 2009 in Los Angeles. Spencer Weiner / LA Times
All but two lanes of the southbound 405 Freeway are closed this morning in North Hills, backing up traffic for miles, as police officers wait for a burglary suspect hiding inside a storm drain to surrender, authorities said.
The southbound freeway was shut down completely at about 3 a.m. after LAPD officers received a call of a burglary in progress at an auto parts warehouse. When officers arrived, they saw two suspects. One was taken into custody, but the second fled on foot and was believed to be hiding along the 405, said Los Angeles Police Department Officer Bruce Borihanh.
The California Highway Patrol immediately closed all southbound lanes between Roscoe Boulevard and Sherman Way as officers searched the area.
“He’s there, they see him, but he’s just not coming out,” Borihanh said.
The carpool lane and the lane next to it were reopened at 6 a.m., said CHP Officer Alexi Villalobos.
Photos: (Top) Los Angeles Fire urban search and rescue members take air samples at a storm drain where a burglary suspect is believed to be hiding. (Middle and bottom) Police and firefighter search and rescue teams work to remove the man. Credit: Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times
The KTLA Traffic Blog provides regular updates of the Southern California traffic situation during the morning drive. This feed is live from 4 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday.
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