FREEWAY BLOODIER; TRAFFIC FATALITIES ON RISE AGAIN AFTER DECLINE IN '98.

Byline: Bhavna Mistry Staff Writer

The California Highway Patrol is stepping up enforcement on the Antelope Valley Freeway after an increase in serious traffic crashes there despite drops last year elsewhere in the area.

``We're concentrating our efforts on putting more units on the freeway,'' said Sgt. Rick Sirovy of the CHP's office in Newhall. ``There is an increase in traffic flow, and we want to slow the motorists down and make them safer drivers.''

Crashes on the freeway have been increasing after highway deaths last year declined statewide, as well as on roads patrolled by the CHP in the Antelope and Santa Clarita valleys.

``It's just a pattern that we've noticed,'' Sirovy said about the crashes on the freeway. ``We want to put a stop to it.''

In 1998, traffic crashes in the Santa Clarita Valley killed 26, three fewer than in the previous year. But this year the CHP already has investigated 22 deaths resulting from 14 collisions in the Santa Clarita Valley.

In the Antelope Valley, the number of fatalities investigated by the CHP dropped by 10 last year from 40 in 1997, and the toll is 18 dead so far this year in 18 crashes.

Officials said most of the traffic fatalities occurred on the Antelope Valley Freeway, which links the two valleys.

Statewide, traffic fatalities investigated by the CHP dropped to a 42-year low in 1998, showing a decrease of 5.8 percent from 3,671 in 1997 to 3,459.

Figures for 1999 will be skewed by the crash on the freeway near Agua Dulce that killed five young Antelope Valley residents during the spring school break. Several cars in a caravan plunged down an embankment after their drivers lost control of them.

CHP officers in Santa Clarita said they believe two major causes of traffic deaths in the area have been failure to use seat belts and fatigue suffered by motorists commuting long distances to and from work.

Investigators suspect that fatigue, prompting a driver to fall asleep at the steering wheel, is a serious problem because they have noticed increasing numbers of solo-vehicle fatalities in which there is no evidence the car was speeding, and autopsies show that the driver had not been using alcohol or other drugs and did not suffer any sudden health problem.

``We have a unique situation. We have a lot of traffic that has a long commute into the San Fernando Valley and even further,'' Sirovy said. ``Fatigue is a factor, especially on the freeway. We find people have to get up earlier and earlier.''

Seat belts have been proven to save lives, Sirovy said.

``Some of these fatalities could have been prevented,'' said Sirovy. ``We make seat belts a primary concern for our officers.''

In the Antelope Valley, the CHP has been focusing on Highway 138, used between northern Los Angeles County and Las Vegas, after a series of fatalities. Officials doubled fines as part of the effort.

Motorcycle deaths in California dropped 15.3 percent and pedestrian deaths, by 10.7 percent, last year.

In the Antelope Valley, there have been no fatal motorcycle crashes so far this year, while there was one last year. In 1997, five motorcyclists died in the Antelope Valley, including two in a head-on collision that killed both drivers.

``Motorcycle deaths have been drastically going down since the mandatory helmet law,'' CHP Officer Scott Weldy said. ``A lot has to do with helmets.''

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Chart: Fatalities