CALTRANS SUED OVER ROAD BARRIERS; FAMILIES CITE LACK OF GUARDRAILS IN DEATH OF FOUR ON FREEWAY.Byline: Karen Maeshiro Daily News Staff Writer The family of a couple and their two children killed in a head-on collision A head-on collision is one where the front ends of two ships, trains, planes or vehicles hit each other, as opposed to a side-collision or rear-end collision. Rail transport With rail, a head-on collision often implies a collision on a single line railway. on the Antelope Valley Freeway The Antelope Valley Freeway is a freeway in Los Angeles and Kern counties in southern California. It is signed as California State Highway 14 along its length. It connects Greater Los Angeles to the rapidly developing Antelope Valley. is suing Caltrans for not erecting a median as a protective barrier. Killed in the Jan. 4 crash south of Palmdale Boulevard were Randal Miller, 34, his fiancee, Barbara Lane, 36, Miller's 5-year-old daughter, Alisha, and Lane's 10-year-old son, Wyatt. They died when a Pontiac Firebird The Pontiac Firebird was a pony car built by the Pontiac division of General Motors between 1967 and 2002. The Firebird was introduced in the same year with its platform sharing cousin the Chevrolet Camaro. went out of control on the rain-slick freeway, careened across the dirt median and crashed head on into their Mazda Protege pro·té·gé n. One whose welfare, training, or career is promoted by an influential person. [French, from past participle of protéger, to protect, from Old French, from Latin . ``There was no form of protection provided in the area to prevent cross-median collisions,'' said the plaintiffs' attorney, Barry Novack. ``The state of California had a criteria as to when to put in median barrier protections. . . . This section met the criteria for a number of years, and yet they failed to place a median barrier in that area.'' The lawsuit seeking unspecified damages was filed in Lancaster Superior Court by Miller's mother, Faye Woolsey of Moorpark, and Lane's father, Leonard Harrell of Bakersfield, who is the guardian of Lane's 14-year-old daughter, Angela. Named as defendants are the state of California, the state Department of Transportation and the Firebird's driver, Chris Panaggio, 22, of Costa Mesa Costa Mesa (kŏs`tə mā`sə), city (1990 pop. 96,357), Orange co., S Calif., on the Pacific south of Santa Ana; inc. 1953. It is a transportation, residential, and light industrial center. . David Simmes, deputy chief counsel for the state Department of Transportation, said he could not comment because he had not seen the lawsuit. Caltrans has been sued at least twice in the past seven years over the lack of guardrails in the area. One suit was filed by the family of Michael Angelo Michael Angelo can refer to:
A California Highway Patrol highway patrol n. A state law enforcement organization whose police officers patrol the public highways. report blamed the crash on Martinez, estimating that his truck was traveling 70 to 75 mph when it went out of control. Though it rejected the claim that the lack of a barrier was responsible for Martinez's death, or for a 1992 crash that killed an Arleta man south of Pearblossom Highway, Caltrans installed a concrete barrier along the freeway from north of Acton to Avenue S in 1995. The barrier ends less than a mile from where the Millers and Lanes died. Caltrans officials in January said the agency plans to install medians in most of the remaining areas along the Antelope Valley Freeway. Last summer, prompted by a cross-median collision in 1996 on Highway 85 in Santa Clara Santa Clara, city, Cuba Santa Clara (sän`tä klä`rä), city (1994 est. pop. 217,000), capital of Villa Clara prov., central Cuba. County that killed four people, Caltrans announced a change in a 40-year-old policy for installing barriers. Under the revised policy, Caltrans will install barriers on high-volume freeways with medians up to 75 feet wide. The previous policy required barriers for freeways with medians less than 45 feet wide. The old standard was based on a study which found that 90 percent of vehicles traveling at a high rate of speed would come to rest within 45 feet. A new study shows it would take 75 feet. When they announced the policy change, officials said they planned a $110 million project to install barriers on approximately 400 miles of freeway in the next five years. Along the Antelope Valley Freeway, barriers are expected to be completed in September 1999 for the freeway south of Agua Dulce Agua Dulce is Spanish for "sweet water". It also refers to various locations: In Mexico:
 This article or section may be confusing or unclear for some readers.Please [improve the article] or discuss this issue on the talk page. from Canyon Country to Escondido Canyon. Three other proposed projects would bring barriers as far north as Avenue L, but construction isn't slated to start until late next year at the earliest. Concrete barriers will be installed along with high-occupancy-vehicle lane widening from Escondido Canyon to Pearblossom Highway starting in late 1999, and from there to Avenue P-8 in 2001. Steel-beam barriers will be installed from Avenue S to Avenue L in 2000. Caltrans officials said they have no plan for barriers north of Avenue L, where the median is 94 feet wide and traffic is lighter. CAPTION(S): Map Map: ANTELOPE VALLEY FREEWAY Daily News |
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