COUNTY SUED IN DEATH PEARBLOSSOM HIGHWAY NOT SAFE ENOUGH, LAWSUIT SAYS.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

PALMDALE - The family of a Palmdale commuter killed when a big rig swerved across the center line on Pearblossom Highway and crushed his pickup truck has filed a lawsuit against Los Angeles County.

The county created a dangerous condition by failing to install median barriers and warning signs alerting motorists about stopped traffic on the heavily traveled commuter route, the lawsuit said.

``All the citizens in the Antelope Valley know that Pearblossom Highway is known as one of the most dangerous highways in the country,'' said attorney Robert Parris. ``Until the road is made safe, they will continue getting lawsuits from people who are seriously injured or killed on that highway.''

John William Wray, 45, was one of two motorists killed in separate crashes minutes apart Sept. 6, 2002, on Pearblossom Highway near its junction with Sierra Highway. Both crashes were blamed on big-rig drivers veering across the center line in trying to avoid traffic slowing in front of them.

The plaintiffs are Wray's wife and four children. Wray was headed to his job as a technician for Kaiser Permanente in Panorama City when the fatal collision occurred, Parris said.

The Sept. 6, 2002, deaths were the fourth and fifth within a year along the 2 1/2 miles of highway east of the Antelope Valley Freeway.

The first crash last Sept. 6 occurred at 6:15 a.m. in heavy commuter traffic just east of Sierra Highway. The second, in which Wray was killed, occurred minutes later about a half-mile east from there as traffic came to a halt because of the blocked highway, officials said.

Killed in the first crash was Gregorio Frias, 20, of Palmdale.

The first crash occurred when an eastbound hopper truck skidded, swerved onto the dirt shoulder, then went across the center line and hit Frias' Chevrolet Camaro, which was pushed into the path of a second big rig and was crushed.

When westbound traffic stopped for the crash, a second big-rig tractor - this one traveling without a trailer - swerved across the center line and hit Wray's Ford Ranger pickup truck, officials said.

``When traffic started backing up, John had turned around to head the other way because no traffic was getting through,'' Parris said.

Also named as defendants are the state of California, the driver of the first big rig, his employer and the company that owned the truck.

The Wray family filed a lawsuit in April against the driver of the big rig that hit Wray's pickup, Parris said.

Parris said Pearblossom Highway near where the incidents occurred is a major commuter corridor, and any time there are traffic collisions or impediments, traffic backs up. The roadway also has improper shoulder widths and lacks center medians and cement wall dividers, Parris said.

The road there is maintained by Los Angeles County. Farther east it is maintained by Caltrans as Highway 138.

``There are no warnings to say be cautious or that traffic backs up,'' Parris said. ``We feel due to the volumes of traffic, that all those things are required.''

Karen Maeshiro, [phone]

karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com

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(color) The family of a man killed last year in a crash on Pearblossom Highway east of Sierra Highway is suing the county.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer