Police Chase Rise in Traffic Fatalities : Safety: Valley accident death rate ranks second-highest in city, records show. Area speeders are targeted.

With its large population, sprawling area and grids of wide, flat thoroughfares resembling mini-highways, the San Fernando Valley is a haven for speeders whom police blame for a particularly high number of traffic fatalities this year.

Indeed, the Valley so far has the second-highest rate of traffic fatalities in the city, a rate that is only slightly lower than that in South Los Angeles and higher than those in West and Central Los Angeles, police records show.

So far this year, 47 people have been killed in Valley traffic accidents, compared to 24 in South Los Angeles. Yet even with 23 more deaths locally, the current rate of traffic fatalities in the Valley--3.7 per 100,000 residents--is slightly lower than the rate in South Los Angeles--3.8 deaths per 100,000 residents--because of the Valley’s larger population and size.

Last week, police stepped up local traffic patrols in a highly visible campaign to curb speeding and accidents. The extra officers and ticketing occurred in response to a recent rash of fatalities on Valley streets, including five caused on a single day.

With more than 1.2 million people spread over 221.5 square miles, the Valley encompasses nearly four times the geographic area and has nearly twice the population of South Los Angeles. As a result, its traffic fatality rate is only slightly lower than that in South Los Angeles, despite the higher number of drivers killed.

West and Central Los Angeles have lower rates, with 2.8 and 1.9 traffic deaths per 100,000 residents respectively. Law enforcement authorities point out that the Valley’s fatality rate could be lower too.

“The answer is to slow down and obey the speed limits, which nobody is doing,” said Detective Robert Uber of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Valley Traffic Division.

Contributing to the current problem, Uber said, is the Valley’s urban plan, with its long, open streets. “In Downtown Los Angeles, the surface streets are a block long and they can be regulated by signals. But over on Sherman Way, for example, the signals are a mile apart,” Uber said.

The long stretches, Uber said, encourage speeding, which is a main cause of many traffic crashes. Already this year there have been 22 traffic fatalities in the West Valley, just three fewer than all of last year.

On May 5 alone, five people were fatally injured in four accidents in Woodland Hills that police describe as all too typical.

A motorcyclist was killed about 10:30 a.m. at Mulholland Drive near Flamingo Street when a truck turned in front of him. Less than an hour later, two elderly women were killed when their car ran a red light and collided with an oncoming car at Shoup Avenue and Oxnard Street.

Later in the evening, a man was killed and a woman was seriously injured when their convertible overturned in the 4400 block of Winnetka Avenue. And, a 14-year-old boy was fatally injured when he was struck by a car while riding his bike along Fallbrook Avenue, across Saticoy Street.

As a result, a dozen traffic officers were deployed last week on Valley streets, where they issued hundreds of speeding tickets along accident-prone stretches such as Winnetka Avenue between Roscoe and Victory boulevards.

Officers also set up a temporary checkpoint on Saticoy Street, west of Mason Avenue, including an electronic sign that can display the speeds of passing motorists. Traffic officers are also increasing their education efforts by visiting schools and senior centers to give traffic safety tips.

But ultimately, police said, significant change may rest with the city’s Transportation Department, which sets speed limits for city streets.

In the meantime, motorists can choose to slow down or take their chances at being ticketed, which for some has been a tough lesson to learn. One woman, police said, was ticketed two days in a row last week in the same West Valley neighborhood.

“You have to make a statement somehow,” Uber said. “Unfortunately, this is the only way the Traffic Division can make a statement.”