A Deadly Game in the Fast Lane

Official records are not precise on this point, but I am confident the following statement is true: California freeways just north of the Mexican border slaughter more human beings each year than any equivalent stretch of interstate in the nation. These freeways mow down people like Texas freeways mow down armadillos.

The humans getting killed, of course, are not “us.” They’re Mexicans, Salvadorans, Ecuadoreans and all manner of illegal what-have-yous from the south. They slip across the border, usually at dusk, and soon find themselves confronted with eight lanes of concrete.

This may be I-5, or I-805, or I-905. All three crisscross the border region in one direction or another. It is a bewildering complex, full of surprises. If the illegals pop up at one spot on I-5 they will see a large, official sign on the median strip that says, “Bienvenidos a California.” This sign may or may not be a joke.

In any case, the freeways amount to physical barriers to our new arrivals, separating them from everything they need. On the other side is civilization, their rides north, places to hide. So cross the freeways they must.

And that’s when the slaughter begins. If you have ever stood at the side of a freeway when it’s really humming, you will remember the sense of menace. The ground itself shakes. Consider that these people are mostly campesinos, or country people, not accustomed to the speed of these cars or an interstate’s sheer size. They don’t handle it very well.

Often, they will hold hands as they start across, a pathetic and touching gesture. It’s a measure of the fear they must feel and of their trust in each other. But alas, hand-holding turns out to be deadly. The last members of the string are usually the ones struck down.

In the last three years, 101 illegals have been killed on these freeways. Another 110 have been struck. Combine those figures and it comes to roughly six persons a month being maimed or killed.

There are a couple of possible reactions to this situation. You might say the pollos are getting what they deserve. After all, they’re smuggling themselves into a foreign country and no one promised them a safe passage.

Or you might ask why, in view of the monthly toll of blood and guts, the Border Patrol or Caltrans do not provide some sort of safe crossing for the illegals. A series of pedestrian bridges or underpasses where the INS would not be waiting with handcuffs and vans. Zones where timeout would be called on the nightly hunt.

These zones could be modest in size, just the crossings themselves and a small patch of ground on either side. For running room. Once beyond the zone, the pollos would know that all bets were off and they were fair game once again.

Maybe the official agencies think this would shift the equation too far in favor of the illegals. Maybe they think it would make them look like wimps. In any case, they’ve produced a different solution.

This fall, Caltrans and the Border Patrol proposed building 10-foot-high barriers on the freeways. The interesting part of the plan was this: the barriers would be built, not along the sides, but down the median strips.

Thus, the illegals could still run onto the freeways, they simply couldn’t reach the other side.

Why would an illegal run onto a freeway if he couldn’t get across? A couple of reasons. He might bolt into traffic during hot pursuit by the Border Patrol. Or he might cross to the median strip because that’s where his ride is supposed to pick him up for the journey north. In either case, we continue to squash illegals.

Let me put the question this way: if 200 white, middle-class teen-agers had been run down on the San Diego Freeway over the last three years, would we be content with a plan that would put a barrier on the median strip?

You answer. Even the sponsoring agencies seem to have sensed that the barriers might be perceived as ghoulish. And so they have produced a Plan B. What if, they ask, we reduce the freeways from eight lanes to four, two on each side?

Their logic here is interesting. With only four lanes operating, the pollos would have a shorter distance to cross. Half the distance, in fact. Presumably, their success rate would go up commensurately.

Of course, you can get squashed just as dead on two lanes as you can on four. But not to quibble. This plan has a certain sporting quality. It comes across as a dare.

And we could liven it up some more. Hand out free Nikes at the border, say. Or put up a few grandstands along I-5.

For the curious, you know.