A.V. TRAFFIC DEATHS DOWN DESPITE SPATE OF DEADLY CRASHES, OVERALL FATALITIES DROP BY EIGHT SINCE JANUARY.

Byline: Greg Botonis Staff Writer

LANCASTER - Despite a recent string of fatal car crashes, significantly fewer motorists have been killed on Antelope Valley roads this year compared with 1999.

Authorities say 23 motorists have died this year, including six this month alone. This compares with 31 fatalities reported from Jan 1. through July 31, 1999.

``There's no rhyme or reason to it,'' said California Highway Patrol Officer Scott Weldy. ``People have to be aware of their driving - that's what makes the numbers go down.''

This month has been particularly deadly for motorists, with two motorists killed in Lancaster, and five in Palmdale - all on July 13. Four people died in a high-speed, head-on crash that authorities said was caused by a Rosamond parolee driving a stolen vehicle.

Earlier that day, a motorist driving a Ford F-150 died when he ran stop sign and collided with a bus.

``These are innocent people dying most of the time,'' said sheriff's Sgt. Gus Risinger. ``They're not gang-related or narcotics involved - they're you and me. It's not the roads and it's not the intersections.

``If it wasn't for someone violating the law, making that illegal lane change or running that red light, these accidents wouldn't happen. And there is always that one person who does just that,'' he said.

According to the CHP, which has jurisdiction over the area's highways, nine people were killed in nine crashes this year, compared with 12 motorists dying in a dozen crashes from Jan. 1 through July 31, 1999.

And the Sheriff's Department has responded to 11 crashes this year in which 14 people were killed.

Last year, the Palmdale Sheriff's Station reported eight fatal crashes resulting in nine deaths, while 10 people died in 10 crashes in the area covered by the Lancaster station.

``What we look at is the number of fatal accidents, not the number of fatalities,'' said traffic investigator Mike Redding.

``If a bus crash involves the two vehicles but kills 20 people, it's certainly a catastrophe. But we have to look at the crash as a single incident for our numbers, to see what we can do to reduce the accidents thereby reducing the fatalities,'' he said.

The Palmdale Sheriff's Station and CHP have been participating in a state-funded program, Safety Corridor, along the Antelope Highway, which provides money for radar-equipped airplanes, as well as for extra patrols to slow down speeding motorists.

The program, initiated in October 1998, has so far issued more than 7,000 citations on the 40-mile stretch of road between Palmdale and the Mojave Freeway, more than double the number in previous years, officials said.

``The program has provided us with a lot more overtime and the air unit and all that added up to more activity,'' Weldy said. ``We've been able to make a much stronger presence out there.''

The program has also allowed funding for seven widening projects to be done within the next three to five years, billboards, warning signs and pavement markers in an attempt to raise awareness to driving safely.

Initiated by Assemblyman George Runner, R-Lancaster, a safety committee oversees the program that also provides other areas needing help including the Santa Paula Freeway through Ventura County and the Pacific Coast Highway.

Three people died on the Antelope Highway this year, the same number of fatalities recorded for the thoroughfare in 1999, officials said.

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Chart: Traffic fatalities in the Antelope Valley