DEATH TOLL UP ON AREA ROADS; DRUNK DRIVING, SPEEDING FACTORS.

Byline: Patricia Farrell Aidem Daily News Staff Writer

Like the rest of the nation, Santa Clarita saw a drop in fatal crashes and collisions following the repeal of the 55 mph speed limit.

But this year fatalities are up again, and local investigators point to three factors: El Nino, drunk driving and speed.

The 50 inches of rain that fell in winter and spring made for hazardous road conditions. Turning hazardous to deadly was an increase in the incidence of drunk driving and the fact that motorists on the two freeways that traverse the Santa Clarita Valley are traveling an average of 80 mph, said Officer Doug Sweeney, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol's Newhall station.

``People out here are lousy drivers,'' Santa Clarita Mayor Jan Heidt said. ``They drive too fast, and they can be too aggressive. It's bad on the freeways, but it's the same on the surface streets.''

Twenty-six people died on local freeways in 1996, the first full year after the federal government lifted the national speed limit. In 1997, despite predictions of freeway carnage, fatalities fell nationwide, with 18 in Santa Clarita.

So far this year, 26 people had died on freeways and highways patrolled by the local CHP office, Sweeney said. Injury crashes and collisions were up 9 percent from 456 in 1997 to 497 as of Oct. 31.

And CHP investigators say the numbers don't show just how bad it is out there. Vehicle damage is much more severe when collisions come at higher speeds. But air bags have saved lives and limited serious injury, Sweeney said.

``We're definitely seeing where injuries and fatalities have been reduced because of air bags,'' Sweeney said. ``What they're saying is that a lot more people would have died given the high speed on the freeways and the increase in drunk driving.''

When the speed limit was 55 mph, the average speed was 70 mph on the Antelope Valley and Golden State freeways through the Santa Clarita Valley, a full 10 mph lower than today's average, the officer said.

Statewide, however, the average speed on freeways was 67.1 mph before the speed limit change, and 68.8 mph after, state Highway Patrol figures show.

Speeders thrive in the Santa Clarita area because local freeways and highways have wide-open stretches, said CHP Officer Robert Marquez, part of a Los Angeles-based special enforcement team called to Santa Clarita last week to crack down on speeding. Another explanation could be that motorists who live in far-flung bedroom communities are in a hurry to get home, he said.

Thirty-five motorists were stopped recently by Marquez's three-man team on The Old Road for exceeding the 40 mph speed limit by more than 10 miles an hour.

Officers issued 247 speeding tickets recently on the Antelope Valley Freeway, Sierra Highway and Soledad Canyon Road during two three-day crackdowns.

That freeway is a particular concern because of continuing construction to add car-pool lanes, widen the roadway and make general repairs to bridges.

``People are driving too fast in the construction zone on the 14,'' Sweeney said. ``We have a tremendous problem to and from the Antelope Valley. Commuters are not slowing down.''

Just last week there were two crashes in the construction area, both caused by speed, he said.

Statewide, fewer people died in California auto crashes last year than in any year since 1959, even though the state population has doubled and the number of cars and trucks on the road has tripled.

A total of 3,671 people died, far below the peak of 5,503 in 1979 and 5,500 as recently as 1987. This year, the death toll is running nearly 300 lower than the same period last year, said California Highway Patrol Commissioner D.O. Helmick.

``I, for one, am not going to tell you that raising speed limits in California has created a major problem,'' Helmick told the Associated Press. ``We have never seen this kind of reduction in my 30 years on the Highway Patrol.''

The reduction is part of a nationwide phenomenon. As Congress debated ending the national 55 mph limit on most freeways in 1995, the Center for Auto Safety predicted an additional 6,400 people a year nationwide would die beyond the 41,000 killed in 1994. Instead, the federal government reported last week the death rate on the nation's roads fell to a record low in 1997. And California's death rate is even lower.

Why is Santa Clarita different?

``Nobody knows,'' Sweeney said. ``It's probably because it's so open here.''

CAPTION(S):

PHOTO CHP Officer Robert Marquez uses a radar gun to enforce the spe ed limit along The Old Road.

Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News