Victims of Hit-and-Run

In a stretch of about 5 miles of Interstates 5 and 805, just north of the international border, dozens of pedestrians have been killed or injured by cars in recent years. The California Department of Transportation says it may be the most dangerous stretch of highway anywhere in the country, and the number of fatalities--many of them hit-and-runs--is increasing.

Most of the victims are illegal immigrants--victims without a spokesman, a California Highway Patrol officer accurately dubbed them.

In one of the most recent cases, a 30-year-old woman was hit and both of her legs were broken. Her fellow travelers dragged her to the side of the road and left her 10-month-old daughter in a sewer pipe nearby.

She was one of the luckier victims. A man traveling with the same group was killed.

Caltrans, the CHP and other law enforcement agencies are well aware of the carnage and have recently started discussing ways to reduce it.

Given the number of deaths, the discussions are long overdue and the problem should be given a high priority. Certainly it would be if the victims were U. S. citizens.

The best solution would be for the illegal aliens not to attempt such a foolhardy act. But devising an education program to reach potential freeway crossers would challenge the most creative Madison Avenue agency. And, even if the migrants could be reached, they would be a hard sell. What they see on the other side of that freeway is the Promised Land.

That’s not to say that the Mexican government should not try to warn travelers of the risks. It should. But that alone is unlikely to significantly reduce the deaths and injuries. Preventive steps are needed on this side of the border.

Caltrans is trimming shrubbery along I-805 to make it a less attractive hiding place, and is installing some additional lighting. The agency is developing a public awareness campaign, and Gannett Outdoor Co. has donated two billboards to warn southbound drivers. Cards alerting northbound drivers to look out for pedestrians will be handed out at the border.

We hope that these first steps help.

But more permanent and aggressive measures may prove necessary. For starters, flashing, changeable-message signs could be used to warn drivers to slow down at night and provide immigration and border information during the day. The cost would be about $75,000 each, much less than some of the alternatives such as lighting, which costs about $500,000 a mile.

But more extensive lighting, and other measures such as stronger fences and a strictly enforced lower speed limit, may eventually be needed to reduce the loss of life. State and federal officials should start looking for ways to fund such work in case the less expensive measures don’t work.

The problem will never go away as long as desperate people take desperate risks in search of a better life. But efforts to solve the problem should be no less vigorous because the victims are not U. S. citizens.