Crash Kills 2 at Accident-Plagued Site : Northridge: After three recent traffic deaths, neighbors call the intersection hazardous.

Two best friends were killed Thursday when a suspected drunk driver ran a red light and sheared their car in half, the second fatal accident since Christmas Day at a Northridge intersection that neighbors claim is too dangerous.

Killed in the crash at Corbin Avenue and Roscoe Boulevard were Barbara N. Paull, 19, the driver, and her college friend, Stephanie Tourikian, 19, of Ontario, Canada. Both were students at UC Riverside, and Paull had just picked up Tourikian at Los Angeles International Airport.

The driver of the car that struck Paull’s was Hector Ruiz, 22, of Canoga Park. Witnesses told police he was traveling about 80 m.p.h., more than twice the limit on Corbin. Ruiz, who was hospitalized with a head injury, may face charges of manslaughter and drunk driving, said Officer Joe Barnes. Both Ruiz and a passenger were in Northridge Hospital Medical Center.

Ruiz has no criminal record, police said.

“He destroyed two lives,” said a distraught Iris Paull of Chatsworth, one victim’s mother, in an interview. “I want her home. I just want her home. I know, unfortunately, that’s never going to be.”

Paull was described as a good student who loved children, succeeded in whatever she tried and planned to become a doctor. Paull and her friend, whose parents were traveling to Los Angeles from Canada late Thursday, had planned to drive together to Riverside to resume their studies later in the day.

In shock and grief Thursday, Paull’s father surveyed the tragedy.

“All Barbara’s stuff is packed and still sitting in the living room,” said her father, Edward Paull. “It’s a senseless waste of lives.”

On Christmas Day, another driver ran a red light at the same spot, striking another car and killing Nelli Aghakhan, 57, of Canoga Park. The driver, John Bocskay, 31, was still hospitalized in critical condition Thursday. After striking Aghakhan, Bocskay then crashed into the side of a townhouse at the corner, narrowly missing the occupant.

Among the angry nearby residents who have complained of numerous other collisions and near-misses at the intersection was Rene Monestine, Paull’s boyfriend, who accompanied both the women home from the airport and had been dropped off just minutes before the fatal accident.

“We need more street lights, stop signs, speed bumps, and more patrol at the intersection after 2 a.m. when the bars close,” said Monestine, who declined further comment.

With three deaths in two weeks, six LAPD officers were at the intersection Thursday after the latest accident, issuing more than 60 speeding tickets within three hours to drivers who exceeded the speed limit by more than 15 m.p.h., said Capt. Ronald Bergmann.

“It’s not unusual for the Valley,” Bergmann said. “The Valley has always had a speeding problem because the streets are wide and they are straight.”

Neighbors have complained that because the street light at the intersection is the only one for several blocks along Corbin, motorists tend to drive too fast. But city officials said they were at a loss as to what can we done.

“There is not much we can do,” said Ray Wellbaum, a traffic engineer.

“Even if we put a signal between Saticoy and Roscoe, I don’t think that would deter speeding on the streets,” Wellbaum said. “You need police enforcement.”

Wellbaum said he is studying the intersection to determine what is causing the accidents there. If there is a problem, the city will take action, Wellbaum said.

“The timing (of the two accidents) brings it into the limelight, but that’s not necessarily indicative that there’s a problem,” said Sgt. Mel Cunningham of the Valley Traffic Division. “It appears to be coincidental.”

“You can have all the laws and all the traffic controls, but if people don’t obey them someone will be hurt,” Cunningham said.

Last year, police recorded 15 accidents at the intersection, one of them fatal. Statistics for 1992 were not immediately available, but Cunningham said there was one fatality that year. In 1991, there were eight accidents, including one fatality.

Each of the four fatal accidents in the last three years was caused by a vehicle that ran a red light, Cunningham said.

For the Paulls, the fact that the collision occurred at an intersection notorious for its hazards only deepened the pain.

“All my life I told her that I loved her,” said the father. “She knew she was loved. And I will continue to tell her that.”