Assessing Blame in Freeway Crashes

Morning and night as we go to and from work, traffic radio alerts are the expected rather than the exception.

On March 18 as we traveled north on the Ventura Freeway, we passed an accident scene in the south lanes. Tow trucks were positioning themselves to remove two automobiles. We measured the mileage of backed up traffic to be in excess of 5 miles. The occupants of roughly 5,000 automobiles, with further ripple effect on thousands more, were the unwitting victims of that accident.

In November of 1988, on the southbound San Diego Freeway near Westminster, an 18-wheel rig overturned, blocking all the lanes on the freeway. Traffic backed up for 10 to 12 miles. Surface streets and adjacent freeways were clogged. The hour was 9 a.m. For hours there was no escape in any direction. What was the social and economic impact of that accident?

On April 1, a tragic accident backed up traffic for 18 miles on Interstate 5 near Camp Pendleton.

On that same freeway near Westminster on Easter Sunday evening, the freeway was closed to northbound traffic due to a driver shearing off guy lines supporting high-tension poles. Live wires dangled on the freeway until the electricity could be turned off. Again, traffic was backed up for many miles and for many hours.

We propose a law aimed at special handling of participants in freeway accidents that cause the terrible delays resulting in wasted man-hours, economic losses in businesses and industry and incalculable physical distress.

The law would provide for a special hearing on the causes of every freeway accident that, in the opinion of the chief peace officer investigating the accident, has caused substantial delay. The judgment in such a hearing would run against the offending party. The state would be the beneficiary of such judgment--required to be published as a notice to the world of the consequences of careless freeway driving.

The measure of social and economic loss would be produced through expert testimony of traffic engineers supported by facts supplied by witnesses to the event of which there would be a ready multitude.

Such damages could be monumental, probably not covered by insurance as it is currently structured, but would, nevertheless, be a shrieking warning to drive more carefully on the freeway.

R.J. GUY

A.D. GUY

Corona del Mar