3 Cheerleaders Hit by Car in Crossing That Is Under Attack

Three North Hollywood High School cheerleaders, sporting their new blue-and-white uniforms, were struck by a car Friday morning and thrown as far as 50 feet while walking across an intersection that parents have long demanded be marked with a traffic light.

Friday night was to have marked the squad’s first performance at a football game this school year.

Rebecca Clinger, 17, who was struck first, was listed in good condition Friday at St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank with head injuries.

Julie de Acevedo, 16, whose leg was broken, and Nichole Dezen, 15, whose collarbone was broken, were treated and released, a hospital spokeswoman said. Both girls suffered many cuts and bruises and were in pain, their parents said.

Fourth Cheeleader Not Hit

A fourth cheerleader, Rachel Woodward, 16, was walking just behind her friends and narrowly missed being hit by a red 1982 Dodge traveling east on Magnolia Boulevard. All four were walking inside the crosswalk on Magnolia at Morella Avenue about 8 a.m.

“All of sudden I saw red and just remember flying through the air,” Julie said after returning home. “I think I was thrown a couple houses down the street. I don’t remember hitting the ground. But I was crying and all my friends were around me.”

“It was awful to see your friends being hit,” Rachel said. “They flew through the air and landed in the middle of the street.”

Rachel ran a block away to her home, where her mother called paramedics. In the meantime, several boys covered the injured girls with their coats and one pulled his car cover off to use as a makeshift blanket, witnesses said.

‘So Frightening’

“It was so frightening,” said Rachel’s mother, Sally Woodward. “When I arrived at the intersection, I saw the first girl lying in the crosswalk. Then I looked 20 feet down the road and saw another body, and 50 feet away I saw another body.”

Police said the driver of the car, Jody Steinberg, 38, of North Hollywood, apparently did not see the girls because the morning sun was in her eyes. She was not cited and apparently was not speeding, police said. Steinberg was treated for shock and released from St. Joseph.

Several hours later, varsity and junior varsity cheerleaders cried and hugged each other during their physical education class as Rachel recounted the accident.

The accident touched off a wave of anger from parents who have been trying for more than a year to get the city to install a traffic signal or at least a blinking yellow light at the T-intersection.

“There are near misses at that corner every day; cars are constantly screeching to a halt,” said Sheila Lane, president of the school’s Parent, Teacher, Student Assn. “We have been trying to get a light, to get signs, something to reduce the danger at that corner. Now this.”

The problem is that many students park on Morella, a residential street, or live in the neighborhood, Lane said. To reach the school, on Magnolia, students must cross the busy boulevard during rush-hour traffic.

There is a wide crosswalk on Magnolia but no school warning sign or other traffic sign at the intersection. Pedestrians usually walk out into one clear lane, then have to wait in the middle of the street for the next break in traffic, Lane said.

‘Cars Zoom By’

“It is extremely dangerous,” Lane said. “Cars zoom by. Some don’t even slow down when they see students trying to cross.”

She said improving the intersection will be a top priority for the association. “If we have to picket out in front to get something done, we’ll picket,” Lane said.

Last school year the association petitioned Los Angeles Unified School District officials to demand that the city install blinking traffic lights and impose other measures, such as tougher parking controls on Magnolia and the replacement of missing school-warning signs.

On Thursday, the city’s Traffic Department sent the school a letter stating that the new parking and school-warning signs would be posted as soon as possible.

However, the chances of installing a blinking light or signal seem slim, a city transportation official said.

“We are not quite sure there is a problem there and we are in the process of studying the intersection,” said William Heyman, transportation engineer for the East Valley. “Accidents are terrible and unfortunate things but they do happen.”

City traffic-signal requirements are stringent, he said. Normally 150 vehicles or pedestrians an hour for a six-hour period must pass through an intersection before a signal can be installed. It is not known whether the Magnolia-Morella intersection has that kind of constant flow, he said.

He also said a stop sign on a high-volume street like Magnolia would be “nothing but a problem.” In response to parents’ complaints, Heyman said, the Traffic Department is conducting a five-year study of the history of accidents at the corner and likely will conduct a traffic volume analysis.