I didn’t intend for my short piece about speeding on Friday to be prophetic, but sadly, it appears that was the case because on Saturday yet another person in Santa Clarita died a truly pointless death on our local roads.
Killed was Jeff Laird, 41, of Saugus as he turned left at the intersection above and was hit by 19 year old Garrett Brixon of Valencia. Brixon suffered major injuries in the collision.
Look at the shot of Plum Canyon above. It’s a perfect example of what I talked about last week; a wide open, six laned highway with few stoplights or reasons to slow down. Can anyone deny that the many roads in SCV like this are designed for one thing: high speed driving?
In most of the places I’ve lived, such roads would be technically classified as highways. In Colorado Springs, the main north-south road is Highway 124, and it’s only two lanes each direction and has overpasses and on/off ramps to minimize intersections. In Santa Rosa, a city of similar size to Santa Clarita, high capacity roads like the one above have many stoplights and a low speed limit of 35-40 mph, like Lyons Ave.
Someone in the comments argued that the main problem with drivers in Santa Clarita is inattention. I agree that might be a problem. But here’s the thing: at a high rate of speed the cause isn’t so important. It’s the consequences that matter! High speed collisions are more likely to injure the driver at best or kill him at worst.
There’s only so much kinetic energy today’s cars can deal with, and only so much blunt force trauma the human body can withstand. The margin for error goes down as the speed goes up.
In our desire to get where we’re going quickly, we’ve created a road system in the SCV that makes injury or death more likely than equivalent high-capacity streets in other cities. And we sequester other users of roads off onto other infrastructure (paseo, bike paths) just so we don’t slow cars down at all.
And despite all this, despite all the roads in Santa Clarita designed like the one above, 86.3% of respondents in the recent City public opinion survey said Traffic congestion is a “Very Important” issue in town. We as a community actually want to go faster on our roads.
Which makes me think, maybe a little more traffic and a little more congestion is ok if it means people have to slow down.
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That’s a turn I make almost three times a week, an a road I drive several times a day. In fact, I was nearly hit by a driver running a red light coming downhill once.
I also had the misfortune of driving past the wreckage of this accident on Saturday evening. I can’t remember a wreck that looked worse, certainly not on the streets of Santa Clarita.
That turn is a really tricky one. It’s steep hill, the person turning faces slow acceleration while facing possible super-high speeds coming down the hill. If there are any cars in the opposite left hand turn lane, it will block almost all visibility for the person turning. Thrown in a person honking behind you to turn and you get a tense situation.
On top of that, you have to turn at an odd angle- across 3 wide lanes into a small, tight residential street, often with a car waiting in the southbound lane.
The unfortunate thing, on top of all this, is that there is a left-turn signal (as you can see in the picture). It’s hardly ever in use. I wouldn’t even know who to call at the county to complain about it. If this were in city territory, we’d have an easier time getting this address, I think.
The man who passed away happened to be my brother n law! He and my sister just had a baby together….its soooo sad, this shouldnt have happened! He was a great man, excellent father, and the best husband my sister could ever ask for!
Very sorry for your loss, Jas.
That’s heartbreaking. I’m very sorry.
Jas, I’m sorry for your and your family’s loss.
Jas,
I’m also so very sorry for your loss. I live very close to where the accident happened and drive by there several times a day. I saw the accident that day and will never forget what I saw. Infact, I can’t stop thinkng about it. So tragic!
Curious, was he a realtor in the area?
Yes he was a realtor as his 2nd job….electronic technician was his primary!
Jas,
Thank you for your response. I read the article today that gave more details about him and his family. I can’t even imagine what your poor sister is going through and his children. I lost my mother 8 weeks ago and am still dealing daily with my loss. Your sister and family need all the support and prayers you can get to try and slowly heal from such a tragic loss. My heart goes out to all of you.
Jas,
We are a Plum Canyon family and are deeply saddened by your loss.
About 2 years ago I met with city traffic engineers to complain about the misalignment of the left turn lanes on Plum Canyon road. I asked if they could realign the lanes so you could see around an oncoming car that was also turning left. I also told them that I had noticed other restriping projects on Whites Canyon and Bouquet Canyon rd. to fix similar left turn lane problems. They told me since there was a left turn signal and no high accident rates that they would not spend the money to fix this obvious problem. Even though they acknowledged that the geometry of the lane was misaligned, they said it would cost too much to move the concrete curbing. They said that restriping on Whites and Bouquet were simple fixes since there was no curbing involved. Talk to the city traffic engineers. I hope that this wasn’t the cause of Jeff’s accident (not being able to see around on oncoming car).
Hey Jeff,
Good post.
Have you ever checked out the California Office of Public Safety at:
http://www.ots.ca.gov/Media_and_Research/Rankings/Explanation.asp
It ranks similar sized cities on accident types based on miles traveled and by population size.
Surprisingly, Santa Clarita compared to other cities between 100,000 to 250,000 has one of the lowest collision rates.
Of 55 other cites in this bracket (#1 being highest, #55 being lowest), Santa Clarita ranks:
41st in Total Fatalites/Injuries by miles traveled and 33rd by population.
There is a Speed category and Santa Clarita ranks 52nd by miles traveled and 49th by population, one of the lowest in the State with population of 100,000 to 250,000.
Another interesting figure is bicyclist accidents. Santa Clarita ranks 51st by miles traveled and by population. That means only 4 other cities between 100,000 to 250,000 had a lower rate.
It looks like there is only one area where Santa Clarita ranked high and that is motorcyclist collisions where the City ranked 12th by miles traveled and 6th by population. THis is not suprising as most fatalites in the past few years have been motorcyclists.
I’m not trying to minimize any situation where a fatality occurs but it does appear by the stats that Santa Clarita’s roads are relatively safe compared to other Cities.
There’s always room for improvement though.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/crime/la-me-lopezcolumn-20100503,0,2522681.column
I am also sorry this happened.
I also am not jumping on the speed kills bandwagon as if we should be driving 25 MPH around town. This will add revenue while making us all criminals.
I really want to know how 2 seperate people do something so damn stupid on a clear day. This has to be more than speed and like the texting Metrolink engineer, distraction is where I will place my initial blame.
People who drive distracted should be treated like a drunk driver. Period! I have been run out of my lane by cell phone talkers and texters with no recourse. Radar is easy but I don’t feel it will solve the problem of overly self important people who refuse to hang up the god damned phone or stop whatever else they are doing and drive!
A lowering of speeds might make some of you feel good but will not solve the problem.
Read the link please!
Brian,
Something we can both argee on – in the extreme.
Drivers drive cars, roads do not drive cars.
As they should be, the roads are designed to handle rush hour crowds, so at off-peak hours they are overdesigned. If you designed them to slow traffic during non-peak hours, the rush hour would be gridlocked.
Jas, I am so sorry for your sisters and family’s loss. Very sad.
I will blame 2 things on this. Obviously, speed! Speed played a large in this particular accident, no doubt. However, I will also point out what Mike noted:
“That turn is a really tricky one. It’s steep hill, the person turning faces slow acceleration while facing possible super-high speeds coming down the hill.”
As I stated in the other piece, when cars are accelerating down a hill, controlling the speed, must be constant!! If a person sees that 45 miles per hour is legal, they will drive it. The problem with hills (as will McBean) is that it’s easy to let that speed get away from you.
There are too many distractions that a driver is faced with at any given time; children in the car, radio, phone, supersized coffee mugs that they cannot put down when they leave their homes, etc.; add speed to these and it’s deadly!
Sad thing all the way around. My understanding was that he was just going to pick up his cleaning. All of us can relate to that one. Everyone needs to be more conscious of those around them. I have a daughter who is currently learning to drive, the biggest thing I want her to understand that it is essential to continually watch out for the other guy.
“the biggest thing I want her to understand that it is essential to continually watch out for the other guy.”
I can’t tell you how often I too tell my boys this same thing, Alpiner. Be defensive and stay aware of EVERYTHING! oh yeah…BOTH HANDS ON THE WHEEL!
Yes, he was already on his way back from picking up my nephews ROTC uniform from the dry cleaners….he literally was less than 1 min/less than a mile away from home….the green left turn light was actually working and for some apparent reason the other car tried to beat his yellow light which was already red way before he even approached the begining of the intersection! I agree it is a tricky turn, but I myself was in a near fatal auto accident in 2004 where i was airlifted to Holy Cross Hospital in mission hills and I realized its not about how great of a driver you are that places you at high risk, its those who drive around you who you need to be more cautious about! I myself was making a left hand turn, very similar to this but I was hit on my drivers door, which after investigation i was fault free
Jas, I add my voice to the others and I am very sorry for your family’s loss. Twenty two years ago our family lost a sister in law, who had given birth to our niece 4 months earlier, to a car accident. It’s sad to say I can relate to what you are going through.
I agree with Brian that speed in and of itself is not the culprit here. For the most part our roads are well designed for the posted speed limits. The culprit is ignorant and aggressive drivers. I am constantly having drivers aggressively tailgate me when approaching intersections with stale yellow or red lights. When they do that they give up their visibility and time to react if the unexpected happens. If everyone followed the Smith Driving System these tragedies would be greatly reduced.
I don’t know about any of you but I am a RESIDENT of this neighborhood. I turn left on Santa Catarina MULTIPLE times a day, have a husband and 2 small kids with 1 more on the way! This angers me you guys. This punk kid who just HAD to beat a light?!?! It’s wrong and disturbing on so many levels and something NEEDS to be done! I just recently became friends with Jessica on FB and her poor, poor heart is BROKEN because of a senseless act by a teenager! I’m sorry, forgive me for my ranting and “blaming.” When, when, WHEN is the city of Santa Clarita going to take the time to pay attention? How many more fathers, no wait, dedicated fathers or mothers need to die??
May Jeff Laird rest in peace and may God COMFORT who he left behind. I feel bad (but not too bad) for Mr. Brixon. He is a 19 year old who has to live with killing a father of 4, for the REST of his life. May God help you and your family as well.
Tammy,
I am also a resident of the area and my daughter attends Plum Canyon Elem. I too am mortified and angry. This could have been any of us. People go down Plum Canyon at Freeway speeds!!! Aside from staging a cop to monitor the speeds and issue tickets on Plum, what else can be done you think?
Walk to City Hall ourselves and demand to talk to the person in charge, whoever that may be. And beg them to at least change the speed limit? Put one of those HIGH PRICE signal cameras? Find out who decides where those go? And not take NO for an answer! If this city can afford to put too many houses everywhere we can certainly afford a camera at our intersection! This would have told us EXACTLY 100% what happened. No high priced lawyer could get Mr. Brixon off with proof like that!
I’m a Plum Canyon parent as well. My & my kids were almost struck by someone running a red light as we were turning onto Plum one afternoon. It can be really scary.
I should note that this stretch of road isn’t part of the City. For reasons like these, I think our neighborhood should seriously consider annexing into the city where a lot of these matters are monitored and decided on the local level. Our most immediate local representative is Mike Antonovich, who has to split his time between us and nearly 2 million other constituents.
I’ve been concerned about the speeds, the light timing, the intermittent use of the turn signal and pedestrian safety, but I have no idea who in LA County I’d need to talk to.
The cameras do work because NO ONE tries to cheat the light when you are looking at for sure $500. At the camera intersections on McBean Parkway collisions went down to ZERO after implementation of the cameras.
Mike,
Thank you for the information. I didn’t realize Plum is not part of the City…I just saw it’s part of L.A. County??? I just left a message for Lizzette, the deputy’s assistance at Mr. Antonovich’s office. let’s see if she calls me back and points us in the right direction. I told them we have a group of residents who are concerened about the posted speed on Plum Cyn and about the fatal car crash last weekend.
Contact Info below:
http://antonovich.lacounty.gov 500 West Temple Street, Room 869, Los Angeles, CA 90012 | Phone: (213) 974-5555 | Fax: (213) 974-1010
I really think the camera is a good idea. We just can’t take no for an answer you guys! If I need to walk all around this neighborhood, my kids in tow to get signatures, donations if whatever city we’re a part of say that they can’t afford the cameras, then that’s what I’m going to have to do. For the SAFETY of our children and families and for Jeff and his family too!
Line the road with speedbumps fercrissakes!
It’s for the children!!!
I have lived up here way too long to roll over everytime I hear that phrase. Adults live and pay taxes.
Parents watch THEIR kids! Perhaps you want excessive government interference in your life. What would the conservative teabaggers say about that.
Less government, right? Where’s the personal responsibility?
Personal responsibility?? Are you kidding me?! The “personal” responsibility FOR THIS ISSUE AT HAND, was in the hands of MR. GARRETT BRIXON! Yes, your 1 idea about speedbumps would be a good “stopper.” Such as the sign that says “Enforced by radar” by Rogers Drive, etc. We DO watch our children, especially on THAT ROAD, however…this is also WHY none of us EVER LET our children cross that street alone!! “Excessive government interference????” Hmmmm, perhaps YOU SIR are talking about something entirely different.
Have a little class.
So less government involvement in our lives ends where your childrens safety is at risk.
I didn’t think the protestors lining Valencia Blvd last month bitching Obama and everything government chose to make that distinction.
What is it going to be Santa Clarita? Are you going to empower the teabaggers and their notion of no government or do you choose a responsive government regardless of a few higher taxes.
Please make up your minds and if you choose your kids, I don’t want to see any more of this hypocritical nonsense waving signs on our streets. Especially using kids to deliver hate filled political messages!
It’s more complicated than just putting in cameras or bumps. Nothing goes unchallenged these days.
Personally I think the teabaggers are idiots and the city should take care of your problem. Are you a teabagger Tammy?
You can’t have it both ways!
LOL, seriously…how sad. Like I said earlier, have some class.
You are spending our money. That is a Teabagger quote.
Where are you getting your funding from to modify existing infrastructure? NO NEW TAXES!
The Tea party has no class and they are against programs which benefit children. SCHIP?
Class is one thing. Reality is another. Are the needs of YOUR children more important than the needs of children elsewhere?
Are you that special? Tell some other mother that you are more important.
You don’t drive distracted, do you Tammy? No cell phones or food? No yelling at the kids or GPS? I hope not.
Like others have mentioned, that part of Plum Canyon is in the County so the City cant do much about that particular intersection.
I know alot of people always say a solution is to just lower the speed limit. However, the California Vehicle Code specifically states that a posted speed limit not justified by a traffic and engineering survey is not enforceable. Thus the County cant arbitrarily lower the speed down to 45 or any other number. Any tickets given by radar would be thrown out.
The California MUTCD gives the guidelines of conducting a traffic and engineering survey. Its based on the 85th percentile of what traffic is flowing at during midday hours. So I dont think the county has an option to lower the speed since as Jeff has said its designed as a high-speed street.
One thing the county can do is change the signal to allow left-turns on arrows only. That way left-turning cars are no longer exposed to the downhill travelers.
Thanks Linda. The arrow is there, it just isn’t used as often as it should be, in my opinion. It’s usually (in my experience) just a regular green light.
If the other person in this accident ran a red light, I’m not sure if any thing could have been done to prevent it. FWIW, Plum/Whites changes speed limit at quite a few points.
But if he ran a red light (as someone mentioned) and killed someone, why wasn’t he arrested? Have the police made a determination?
Mike,
I was thinking that the County can change that signal for the left turns to protected only. That way cars can only turn left when there is a green arrow, similar to the lights at Heller Circle.
I dont know the details of this particular crash and if my suggestion would help in this case but it seems to me that alot of people are saying its hard to make a left there and this would definitely help most.
Many moons ago, the City of Santa Clarita was sued by the parents of a kid killed on a Santa Clarita road, in the vicinity of this latest crash.
“The big secret” being kept by the City was a secret memo proving that City Manager George Caravalho approved the installation of some sort of improvements to the street, without a proper traffic study prior to the changes in the road.
The City’s attorneys didn’t want the dead kid’s parents or their lawyers to find out what George did, and there was a whole lot of stonewalling in discovery and Councilman Glen McAdoo was the big proponent of the “screw the victims” strategy when the case was discussed by the City Council.
I never read how that case turned out, or if the City Council really got away with playing “hide the ball” in discovery.
I am just wondering if this latest crash was near that same interesection? The decedent’s family had better be more aggressive in discovery, if they sue the city, than the family of the dead kid’s lawyer was.
CostalSage,
This intersection is in the County, not the City.
This intersection is in the County.
Who is Glen McAdoo?
By the way Glen McAdoo is a code name for a bombastic city councilman still in office. You figure out who it is.