CHP Reports Rise in Holiday Traffic Deaths

Two people died in San Fernando Valley traffic accidents during the Memorial Day weekend, according to the California Highway Patrol.

One person died in North Hollywood and another was killed in Verdugo Hills, according to CHP spokesmen Mike Orozco and Pablo Torres. Overall, 13 people died in traffic accidents in Los Angeles County and 43 were killed statewide, Torres said.

The patrol arrested 79 people suspected of driving drunk in the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys from 6 p.m. Friday to midnight Monday. Of these, 30 arrests were made in the West Valley, 25 in the Newhall area, 17 in the Verdugo Hills area and seven in the Antelope Valley.

Local arrests accounted for a little over one-third of the 354 drunk driving arrests countywide. Patrol officers made 1,780 arrests statewide. Orozco said he believed that a successful campaign against drunk driving was responsible for the decrease in arrests.

“People are being a lot more cautious about drunk driving,” Orozco said. “There’s a lot of publicity about it. People are being more responsible.” Orozco said he could not readily explain why traffic fatalities rose this year.

The statistics do not include traffic fatalities that were handled by other law enforcement agencies, such as the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. LAPD statistics will not be available for three to four weeks, according to the department’s media relations office. The Sheriff’s Department also did not have such statistics available on Wednesday.

Holiday Aftermath While DUI arrests for the Memorial Day weekend were down this year from 1993, the number of those killed in traffic collisions was up. Killed in Collisions

1993 1994 Statwide 29 43 Los Angeles County 8 13

DUI Arrests

1993 1994 Statewide 1,927 1,780 Los Angeles County 429 354

Source: California Highway Patrol