Oregon highways deadly in April.

Byline: Rebecca Nolan The Register-Guard

April was a cruel month on Oregon's roads, with nearly twice as many people dying in traffic crashes as during the same month last year.

With 42 traffic deaths, it was the deadliest April in the past five years, said Troy Costales, manager of the state transportation department's safety division.

Seven people died in wrecks in Lane County, a slight increase over Aprils past. Lane County typically sees two to four traffic deaths each month.

"We are fortunate that our numbers are now so low that just one or two additional crashes will make the percentages swing," Costales said.

But, he added, "These aren't just numbers. These are families, people."

Despite the increase, Oregon continues to trail the national average for total annual traffic deaths.

Oregon had 426 traffic fatalities in 2002, the lowest number since 1956, when 423 people died on the state's roads.

The death tally typically rises beginning in May, when highway construction projects, high school proms and graduations increase hazards on the road, Costales said. From May through the rest of the year, Oregon usually averages about one death per day on the roads, he said.

Traffic safety officials don't like to see such an early start in the traffic fatality season.

"From January through March, we were 15 to 20 percent below the previous year to date," Costales said. "There were so many fatal crashes this April that the total for the year to date is now 4 percent above last year. This is simply unacceptable."

Last month's crashes pointed to an increase in certain kinds of wrecks, he said.

Twice as many men were killed as women. At least seven of the fatal crashes were caused by speeding. Ten of the victims were not wearing a seat belt, and six of them were killed after they were ejected from the car. Almost 70 percent of the fatal wrecks occurred on rural roads. And nearly 20 percent involved an intoxicated driver.

Those statistics held true for Lane County wrecks, too.

Locally, the county logged its first deadly accident right away, with the first fatal wreck on April 1. Thomas Robert Stroh Jr., 21, an active-duty soldier stationed at Fort Lewis in Washington, was killed on Highway 58 at Rattlesnake Road in Pleasant Hill. Investigators determined that Stroh, whose wife and infant son were found murdered in their Tacoma home after the crash, most likely committed suicide while en route to his hometown of Klamath Falls.

Four days later on April 5, Karen Kay Austin, 40, of Marcola died when her car left Marcola Road and smashed through a guardrail and several fences. Investigators suspect that speed and alcohol contributed to the crash.

The next day, on April 6, Benjamin Earl Curington Jr., 37, of Eugene was killed when the car he was riding in left East 30th Avenue near Potter Street and crashed through a fence at Harris Elementary School. The driver, 26-year-old Eugenia Lynn Dominguez, remains in the Lane County Jail on a charge of first-degree manslaughter. Alcohol and speed most likely caused that crash, too, officials said.

Eighteen days passed before the next fatal wreck. On April 24, Julie Foerstler, 38, and her two children, Matthew, 12, and Amanda, 9, died when their car slid off London Road near Cottage Grove and landed in a creek.

The three were returning to their home near Cottage Grove Lake after a track meet in Cottage Grove. Investigators are still trying determine the cause of the wreck.

Three days later, on April 27, 18-year-old Sumer Solesbee of Cottage Grove died in a head-on collision on Highway 99 north of Saginaw Road as she drove to church. Investigators suspect that speed contributed to the wreck.

Even before April numbers were tabulated, Gov. Ted Kulongoski had declared May to be Transportation Safety Awareness Month in Oregon, with grant money going to county sheriffs' offices and city police departments for seat belt, speed limit, pedestrian safety and work-zone enforcement.