DRIVING GETS SAFER GRIDLOCK CREDITED AS DEATHS DECLINE.

Byline: Lisa Van Proyen Staff Writer

The traffic fatality rate in Los Angeles County has fallen by nearly half since 1989, and last year its freeways and streets were safer as a whole than the state's, according to newly released state figures.

The No. 1 reason, experts say, is simple: gridlock.

``People just can't go fast enough to kill themselves,'' said Stephanie Faul, communication director of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, a trade group in Washington, D.C.

According to 1999 statistics from the California Highway Patrol and the state's Department of Transportation, 0.87 people died in crashes for every 100 million miles traveled in Los Angeles County.

This is a vast improvement over 1989 when the death rate was 1.66 people per 100 million miles traveled. Overall, 684 people died on Los Angeles County roads and freeways in 1999, far fewer than the 1,162 killed in 1989.

By comparison, 1.19 people were killed for every 100 million miles traveled statewide in 1999, 2.14 in 1989.

In 1955, there were 6.2 people killed for every 100 million miles traveled in the state, said Steve Kohler, a CHP spokesman based in Sacramento.

Los Angeles drivers were less likely to die in crashes than those in the neighboring counties of Ventura, San Bernardino and San Diego.

Only Orange County in Southern California bested Los Angeles' rate, with 0.69 people killed for every 100 million miles. Orange County has 1.8 million licensed drivers on its roadways - one-third that of Los Angeles.'

Orange County's mileage death rate also declined, from 1.35 people killed in 1989.

Ventura County - which has more than 10 times fewer drivers than Los Angeles County, was not even as safe as Los Angeles, statistics showed.

In 1989, Ventura County more than halved its mileage death rate, with 2.02 people killed per every 100 million miles traveled, compared with 0.91 in 1999.

Los Angeles was more than twice as safe for drivers compared with San Bernardino, which ranked the worst of all neighboring counties with 1.81 people killed for every 100 million miles traveled.

However, San Bernardino's rate also significantly declined, with 3.31 people killed in 1989 vs. 1.81 in 1999.

Comparatively, San Diego, the second most populated county, also with 1.8 million licensed drivers, saw 1.1 people die in 1999 for every 100 million miles of travel. Two people died on San Diego's roads in 1989.

Traffic officials say Ventura and San Bernardino counties have relatively high rates of deaths because their long, wide-open roads encourage speeding, with drivers growing fatigued. San Bernardino is the nation's largest county geographically, with 495,000 licensed drivers.

``(In San Bernardino) they tend to drive faster, so the accident is more severe,'' said Manuel Jabson, office chief for Caltrans' operations services in the region's District 8 office.

By comparison, Los Angeles road trips tend to be shorter and at slower speeds, traffic experts said.

On a good day, Los Angeles' 5.4 million licensed drivers attain average speeds of 42 mph on freeways - or 32 mph in more congested areas, said Paul Chow, an associate transportation engineer for the California Department of Transportation.

``If they hit something they don't hit as hard, so they're less likely to die,'' Faul said of Los Angeles motorists.

The gridlock is not lost on commuters.

Amy Mitchell, a Woodland Hills sales representative, said she doesn't worry much about crashes while driving some 500 miles a week, much of it in traffic.

``I think I'm more frustrated with the traffic than being concerned about getting into an accident,'' said Mitchell. ``There's so much traffic, so you have to go slow here.''

In San Bernardino, the statistics tell a different story.

From January through August last year, 38 people died in San Bernardino County's long desert stretch from Barstow to the Nevada state line, largely due to speeding, and in 30 of the cases, those who died were not wearing seat belts.

``In the desert areas, people are falling asleep and (then) overcorrecting. In Los Angeles, you're going from Point A to Point B, which is rather close,'' said Eric Phipps, a spokesman for the CHP's Inland Division.

Other reasons for Los Angeles' high survival rate include relatively quicker emergency response and more police enforcing traffic laws, authorities said.

Better designed roads, air bags and anti-lock brakes, increased education, and more stringent DUI and seat belt laws have also contributed.

``People are much more aware of the effects of drinking and driving. They're taking a cab or designating another driver,'' Kohler said.

In 1991, the blood alcohol level was lowered from 0.10 to 0.08 and law enforcement officers were allowed to take drivers' licenses on the spot if they tested above that level.

In 1998, there were 148 people killed in DUI collisions in Los Angeles County, compared with 239 in 1994, according to CHP statistics.

Another reason, officials said, is that the state's seat belt law is at a 90 percent compliance rate.

Just ask CHP Officer Lydia Martinez Prows of the West Valley Office in Woodland Hills, who saw the aftermath of a recent crash involving a Ford Explorer that had rolled several times and landed upside down on the Hollywood Freeway near Victory Boulevard. The driver and her child were dangling from their seat belts and car seat.

``They didn't have a scratch on them. The child's eyes were really wide, but they walked away without any injuries,'' Prows said. ``We see a lot of overturns where you think a person would be hurt and they walk away. If you're secured in the car, usually you make it out OK.''

CAPTION(S):

chart

Chart: SAFETY ON ROADS AND FREEWAYS

SOURCE: California Department of Transportation and the California Highway Patrol