EXTRA PATROLS SAVING LIVES, CHP SAYS : INJURY CRASHES DIP ON HIGHWAY 126.

Byline: Teresa Jimenez Daily News Staff Writer

In the three months since Ventura County officials decried the number of people dying in collisions on Highway 126, intense patrols have reduced injury accidents and increased the number of people being pulled over by officers.

``The accident picture has gone down dramatically,'' said Administrative Lt. Les Fritz with the Ventura County office of the California Highway Patrol. ``Part of it is the information we've given out to the public. Part is the enforcement that has increased out there.''

Local officials took action in mid-January, after 11 people died in less than six weeks between Fillmore and the Los Angeles County line.

Officials attributed some of the accidents to Caltrans roadwork that began in January 1996 within that 11-mile stretch. The project, which will continue in Ventura County until March 1998, will increase the highway stretch there from two to four lanes.

While the project will ultimately make the highway more safe, authorities worried that the string of fatal accidents would continue unless a concerted patrol effort was made to curtail the problem.

As a result, the local CHP office was awarded a $280,000 federal public safety grant. The money has allowed the CHP to add an additional officer on that patrol from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. - an effort that will continue until the construction project ends in 1998, Fritz said.

The money has also helped to fund air patrols and other safety programs and provide for new signs announcing the reduced speed limit from 55 miles per hour to 45 mph.

Since the extra enforcement has begun, officers have made about 1,500 enforcement contacts, which includes stops for citations or to give verbal warnings, CHP spokesman Dave Cockrill said.

``That's quite a few more stops than we would usually have, due to the extra enforcement,'' Cockrill said.

Though 31 accidents have occurred, only one resulted in a fatality, he said. Several, however, resulted in injuries.

``Any time vehicles are traveling at any rate of speed, you're going to have accidents,'' Cockrill said. ``But the severity of the accidents is less than they were. Hopefully, it's due to the high public awareness campaign we did. We wanted to make drivers aware that Highway 126 is a highly traveled road, where there have been problems.''

The number of patrol cars on the road has also helped to slow drivers, Fritz said.

``It makes drivers more cognizant of their driving habits,'' Fritz said. ``Any time an area develops as a safety problem, we need to address that. We inundate an area with enforcement, and it does work.''