Antonovich Opposes Use of Radar : Will Seek Additional Patrols for Agoura’s Kanan Road

Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich said Tuesday that he is opposed to using radar in a crackdown on speeders along Agoura’s Kanan Road, where a speeding sports car was blamed for a crash last month that killed four people.

Instead, he said, he will push for the assignment of more patrols along the two-lane mountain road, which is used daily by thousands of beachgoers.

At a meeting with Agoura Hills city leaders and California Highway Patrol officials, area residents asked Tuesday that radar be used along the 11-mile road between the Ventura Freeway and Pacific Coast Highway. The Agoura Hills City Council last week requested county approval of radar. That approval is required before radar can be used.

Billboard to Be Erected

Residents said they will erect an unauthorized skull-and-crossbones billboard next to Kanan Road this week with a warning that “Death Lurks Ahead.”

Among those speaking at Tuesday’s meeting was the mother of a San Fernando Valley teen-ager killed in the June 26 crash.

“If this had happened to Supervisor Antonovich’s son or grandson or to a councilman’s, they’d probably do something. They’d work harder on this problem,” said Regina Wiseman, mother of the crash victim, John Wiseman, 18, of Van Nuys.

Wiseman, accompanied by her husband, Jim, and an older son, Scott, said she was “frustrated and angry that children’s lives are not important enough for officials to take action.”

“There are going to be more deaths before anything’s done,” she said. “I want to prevent other parents from going through the hell we have. We’ll miss our son for the rest of our lives. But he lost the most, his life. It’s rotten.”

Agoura Hills shopkeeper Bill Purseglove promised Wiseman that the billboard--to be erected Friday with volunteer labor--will “very loudly” warn motorists of Kanan Road’s danger.

He promised to keep asking county supervisors for radar approval. “Antonovich’s office will damn sure get tired of listening to me,” Purseglove said.

Antonovich, who did not attend the meeting, said later that he doubts that radar slows speeders.

In a statement, the 5th District supervisor said that his 18 years as a reserve policeman had convinced him that radar has less effect than visible police officers.

Supports Extra Patrols

“Radar encourages patrolmen to adopt low visibility,” he said. Antonovich said he supports additional patrolling of Kanan Road instead.

Capt. Richard Kerri, commander of the West Valley Highway Patrol office, said it is six officers under its authorized strength and no officers are expected to be added this summer.

Kerri told those attending the Agoura Hills meeting that he would welcome the use of radar units along Kanan Road. “If you can give it to us, it will be a good, viable tool,” he said.