CHP SEEKS FUNDS FOR TRUCK WATCH 1,299 DRIVERS TICKETED ON I-5.

Byline: Patricia Farrell Aidem Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - There's a downhill spot on Interstate 5 near Castaic where speeding truckers are like ducks on a pond.

The five-mile grade on the southbound Golden State Freeway is where most of the 1,299 truckers ticketed in a special four-month crackdown last year were caught, Officer Doug Sweeney of the California Highway Patrol said Wednesday.

Noting the success of the September-to-December detail, the CHP is asking the state for money to continue funding overtime pay for officers assigned to monitor commercial truck drivers.

The Newhall CHP is seeking a share of $1.2 million in state money for local enforcement, Sweeney said.

Authorities hope to reduce big-rig accidents by 5 percent statewide. In the past 5 1/2 years, 698 people have been killed on California highways in such crashes.

Between 1996 and June, big rigs were to blame in 98,377 crashes statewide, according to the CHP. Those collisions resulted in injuries to 33,604 people.

In the Santa Clarita area, there were 479 truck crashes last year with truckers at fault in 121 of them. From September to December, when the special enforcement was in place, there were 130 truck-related crashes with truckers blamed in 38 of the cases. During the same period the previous year, truckers caused 36 of 175 truck-involved accidents.

The state's 18-month program will target commercial truck drivers who speed, follow other motorists too closely, make unsafe lane changes, drive outside the right lanes or drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Roughly 2.5 million truckers pass through the Santa Clarita Valley each year, most of them on California's main artery, Interstate 5, Sweeney said. And the freeway's steep grade from Templin Highway south to Lake Hughes is a trouble spot because rigs can quickly gather speed.

``We applied for the money for this area because of the heavy volume of commercial vehicles and our proactive stance in reducing commercial vehicle-involved traffic accidents,'' Sweeney said.