MORNING WALK PROVES FATAL HUSBAND AND WIFE, BOTH 75, ARE HIT WHILE CROSSING STREET.

Byline: Phillip W. Browne Staff Writer

An elderly couple taking an early morning walk were hit and killed Wednesday by a motorist who may have been blinded by the rising sun, authorities said.

Kyung Up Chun and Chung Sil Chun, both 75 and of Northridge, were hit about 7 a.m. as they crossed at Corbin Avenue and Oak Hill Way, police said. They were rushed to area hospitals, where they died of their injuries.

The driver of a Lexus ES 300, Ronald Raymond Fass, 47, of Northridge, and his teenage daughter, who was in the passenger seat, were not injured in what police called a ``very unfortunate accident.'' Fass was not cited.

Fass' wife, Barbara, said her family was heartbroken.

``We're devastated,'' Barbara Fass said tearfully in a phone interview. ``This is not a good time.''

The couple that were hit had five children and 12 grandchildren, and members of the Chun family were gathering at their home in Northridge late Wednesday.

``I think the majority of us are pretty shocked,'' said 23-year-old granddaughter Geny Kim. ``A lot of us were at work and we're only finding out about it now.''

Kim said her grandparents moved from Korea to Brazil in the 1970s and settled in the San Fernando Valley about 20 years ago. She said the couple took a walk together every morning.

``My grandparents loved to go fishing. They're very simple people who loved family,'' Kim said. ``I think they were very fortunate to have all of their children living five minutes away.''

Wednesday's crash was the latest in a string of fatal collisions in the San Fernando Valley that has the Los Angeles Police Department scrambling to reshuffle patrols and increase driver and pedestrian safety.

A dozen fatal collisions have been reported in the Valley this year, compared with eight during the same period in 2003.

``This is the worst beginning of the year that I can remember,'' said Capt. Greg Meyer, who heads the Valley Traffic Division. ``We are very dismayed by this because it can happen to anyone or their loved ones. We're having a horrible string of bad luck.''

While most other traffic categories are on the decline - crashes are down 6 percent, serious injuries 3 percent and pedestrian collisions 14 percent - fatalities have skyrocketed.

``I wish people would use common sense and slow down, and also walk carefully and legally,'' Meyer said. ``We would hope there will be no more fatalities, but we all know there will be more.''

Reporter Ryan Oliver contributed to this report.

Phillip W. Browne, [phone]

phillip.browne(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

photo, map

Photo:

A Los Angeles police officer looks at a Lexus that was involved in a fatal collision. Two pedestrians died in the incident.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer

Map:

2 pedestrians killed