LAPD Puts Brakes on Speeders : Police: Stepped-up enforcement follows traffic deaths of 47 people in the Valley so far this year.

Responding to a string of traffic deaths in the western San Fernando Valley, the Los Angeles Police Department began a crackdown on speeders Thursday in its latest effort to get drivers to slow down and obey the law.

Officers set up a temporary checkpoint on Saticoy Street, west of Mason Avenue, and said they’ll increase patrols along routes prone to accidents or speeding, such as Winnetka Avenue between Roscoe and Victory boulevards.

The checkpoint includes an electronic sign that can display the speeds of passing motorists. On Thursday, it showed English and Spanish messages telling drivers to fasten their seat belts.

“I think people are driving unsafely in the San Fernando Valley and the city,” said Los Angeles City Councilwoman Laura Chick, who attended the sign’s unveiling. “Speed is becoming the name of the game.”

Traffic accidents in the San Fernando Valley killed 47 people in the last five months, including 22 in the West Valley, according to LAPD statistics. Five people died as a result of traffic accidents May 5.

“It is essential that we all slow down and pay attention when driving and ask ourselves, ‘Is it better to be five minutes late or 50 years early?’ ” Chick said. “I think there are a lot of people in our contemporary world who need to take some brush-up (driving) courses.”

Authorities said they believe checkpoints are an effective reminder.

“I think most drivers, when they see they’re being monitored, they do slow down,” said Capt. Valentino Paniccia of the LAPD’s West Valley division. “The question is for how long.”

Chick said she was surprised to learn that the LAPD has only one of the electronic signs, and said she would like to arrange for the department to obtain at least three more.

“That’s outrageous that a city of our size has only one of these boards,” Chick said.

Earlier this week, the LAPD tripled its deployment of traffic enforcement officers in the West Valley. Officers issued 160 tickets Wednesday and 150 tickets Tuesday, twice as many as normal, said Capt. Harlan Ward.

Although the additional enforcement is a part of the program, Ward stressed that officers are also increasing their education efforts by visiting schools and senior centers to give traffic safety tips. They also will distribute materials at checkpoints such as the one in Winnetka on Thursday reminding people to buckle their seat belts.

“I don’t want people getting the idea we’re just out here to write tickets,” Ward said.

Four of the 22 people killed in traffic accidents in the West Valley died after four accidents that occurred Friday in Woodland Hills.

The first was at 10:30 a.m. when a motorcyclist crashed into a pickup truck that turned in front of him at Mulholland Drive near Flamingo Street. The man, who was in his late 20s, died less than three hours later.

At 11:15 a.m., two elderly women were killed when their car reportedly ran a red light and collided with an oncoming vehicle at the intersection of Shoup Avenue and Oxnard Street.

Four teens in the other car suffered injuries ranging from broken collarbones to cuts from glass. Residents said this was the third fatal traffic accident at the intersection in the past two years.

At 5:45 p.m., a man was killed and a woman was seriously injured when their convertible overturned in the 4400 block of Winnetka Avenue. The car flipped over, slamming into a parked vehicle. Both victims were in their 30s.

At 7 p.m., a 14-year-old boy was struck by a car while riding his bicycle along Fallbrook Avenue, across Saticoy Street. The West Hills boy died the next morning.