Toll Road Speeding Issue

Orange County’s toll roads are no longer a novelty, and the experience gained from their use should prompt a review of design and safety questions as they arise. Whatever the final determination of the cause of a three-fatality accident in the San Joaquin Hills corridor in Laguna Niguel last week, there is no doubt that speeding is commonplace and that more will have to be done to protect the traveling public.

Investigators say an automobile that crossed a wide median and crashed into another car was traveling more than 90 mph, well over the 65 mph limit. In addition to the three people killed, two were injured.

Because fewer drivers than expected are willing to pay the tolls, traffic has been relatively light. Unfortunately, that has prompted too many drivers to exceed the speed limit. California Highway Patrol officers say that many of those ticketed are traveling 90 or 100 mph.

Modern cars, with their quiet interiors and rattle-free parts, can be seductive. On an open stretch of road, a speedometer can blow past 85 before a driver realizes it. But greater speeds require greater distances to stop. Above the posted limit, minor problems can become catastrophes.

Police are uncertain what caused the 16-year-old driver to cross the median, but skid marks before the crash appeared to extend about 150 yards.

Because the median is so wide, 88 feet, builders of the road did not install a barrier between the northbound and southbound sides. That mistake should be rectified quickly. Barriers do not prevent head-on collisions, but they reduce the likelihood.

Enforcement of speed limits reduces accident rates. Several years ago the CHP stepped up patrols along Interstate 5 in South County. Drivers along the southbound grade in San Clemente were a particular problem, averaging 15 mph over the limit. From early morning to midafternoon on one day, working both sides of the freeway with more than a dozen patrol cars, police wrote more than 300 citations for speeding or not wearing seat belts. The crackdown succeeded in sending the message that traffic safety is important.

If drivers don’t slow down on the San Joaquin Hills road, the CHP will have to rejigger patrols there and send the message again. The open road may appear inviting and a refreshing change from bumper-to-bumper rush-hour traffic on most Orange County freeways, but the speed limits need to be heeded. Seat belts, air bags and other safety devices can do only so much. Drivers have a responsibility to handle their vehicles prudently.