ROAD HAZARDS CITED IN FATAL COLLISION STATE OFFICIALS OFTEN WARNED OF HIGHWAY 138 DANGERS, LAWSUIT SAYS.

Byline: KAREN MAESHIRO Staff Writer

LLANO -- The family of a Palmdale man killed in a head-on collision on Highway 138 has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the California Department of Transportation, saying Caltrans should have done more to make the dangerous roadway safer.

Richard Pailliotet, 72, died from injuries in the June 2005 crash that occurred when a tow-truck driver crossed over the center line in an attempt to pass a big-rig truck and crashed into the victim's pickup truck, authorities said.

``I believe that State Route 138 is the most dangerous route in the state of California,'' said Rob Parris, the family's attorney.

``I have filed a lot of lawsuits because of that in the hope that Caltrans will take notice and do something with that highway that will stop the many fatalities and injuries that are occurring there,'' he said. ``I realize they have taken some steps, but in my opinion they are too little and too late.''

Caltrans officials said they could not comment on pending litigation. The family had filed a claim in March that was rejected as a prelude to the lawsuit.

Pailliotet and his wife, Susan, were driving west on Highway 138 in a 1998 Ford Ranger pickup truck about 2:20 p.m. on June 10 when the collision occurred near Avenue W, where the two-lane highway makes one of two bends just east of the hamlet of Llano.

The tow-truck driver, James Herbert White, was trying to pass a big rig when he drove his 2002 International tow truck into westbound traffic and hit the Pailliotet's truck head-on, authorities said.

Both Pailliotets were severely injured and taken by helicopter to Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills.

Richard Pailliotet, a retiree, died Aug. 17, 2005. His wife is still recovering, Parris said.

The Pailliotets, who have two grown children, did volunteer work at St. Andrew's Abbey in Valyermo, Parris said.

White, who at the time of the crash was a Montclair resident, is awaiting trial on charges of felony vehicular manslaughter and misdemeanor reckless driving with injury.

White and other motorists pulled the Pailliotets from their burning truck, a California Highway Patrol report said.

Because of increased traffic volumes, lack of passing lanes and high traffic speeds, the number of major traffic collisions occurring on this portion of Highway 138 has increased -- especially the incidence of cross-median collisions, according to the lawsuit.

Protective measures that could have been done to Highway 138 -- a two-lane rural roadway in that area -- included widening the highway or installing some form of median barrier, the lawsuit says.

``If a median barrier had been installed in this area, the vehicle being driven by James Herbert White would have been prevented from crossing over into the westbound lanes,'' the lawsuit states.

Additionally, the state could have widened the shoulder, erected signs warning motorists of the hazards of passing traffic, or cleared brush to increase the sight distance, the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit says the state and Caltrans breached a duty to use funds allocated by the Legislature to improve Highway 138 and instead diverted these funds to other projects.

The California Department of Transportation recently widened the highway to four lanes about five miles west of the crash location and has two new widening projects under way west and east of there.

In a $17.9 million project, two narrow bridges over Big Rock Wash are being replaced, and the highway is being widened up to 165th Street East, about three miles west of the crash location.

In a $44.4 million project about 10 miles to the east, truck lanes are being added where the highway climbs over the San Gabriel Mountains in San Bernardino County.

Parris noted that Avenue W on Highway 138 was the site of a 1998 crash that killed a young couple and injured their 10-month-old son when their Jeep Wrangler was hit by a pickup truck that went out of control on a curve.

The young woman's father waged a billboard campaign to improve the highway, now being widened to four lanes farther west toward Palmdale.

The mother of the infant was Teresa Stein, 22, a Littlerock High School security guard who was the daughter of Steve Landaker, then a high school trustee who was an executive with a billboard company and a member of the Lancaster sheriff's station booster club.

The baby's father, Keith Stein, 23, worked as a painter for the billboard company.

``Steve pushed hard and got the Highway 138 safety committee going,'' Parris said.

The crash also killed Duane Gross, 33, of Valyermo, the pickup truck's driver. The crash also involved a minivan hauling a trailer and a compact car, but all their occupants survived.

karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com

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