Young Pedestrians Account for Half of Injuries

A report released last week on pedestrian safety in the state failed to explain how truly dangerous it is for children to walk in Ventura County.

According to the study by the Surface Transportation Policy Project, juvenile walkers accounted for one-third of all deaths and injuries in the state in 1996, the most recent data examined by researchers.

But statistics from the California Highway Patrol for Ventura County indicate that about half the injuries in 1997 and 1998 involved young pedestrians.

In 1998, 102 of 224 injured pedestrians were juveniles, and a year earlier 130 of 236 of the injured were kids, according to the CHP.

Ten people were killed each year by cars. Of those, two each year were kids.

Children between ages 5 and 9 were most likely to be injured.

Project spokeswoman Gloria Ohland said she was bothered by the study’s outdated statistics and acknowledged the increased risk for youngsters in the county.

“The situation is that children are literally being driven off the streets,” she said.

Although pedestrians account for more than 20% of all traffic fatalities statewide, Ventura County spends only about 2% of its annual transportation budget on bicycle and pedestrian paths.

Maybe it’s time for drivers to slow down and for officials to rethink their priorities.

*

It’s literally raining food in Port Hueneme, and residents aren’t happy about it.

Since July, officers have taken reports about dozens of cans of vegetables, a jar of pasta sauce, eggs and a coffee creamer container being catapulted from an area near the Bubbling Springs bike path.

One of the targets is apparently a house on nearby Willowbrook Avenue, said Port Hueneme Police Sgt. Ken Dobbe.

“The cans have struck the roof of the residence and surrounding residences with an impact which could cause severe injury if a person were struck,” Dobbe said.

Residents have apparently heard the launching device being used during the daytime and at night, the sergeant said.

Police questioned a youth who lives in the area and owns a softball pitching machine, but no arrests have been made.

A cash reward of $1,000 is being offered for information leading to the arrest of the food thrower.

*

A monthlong investigation by sheriff’s deputies has ended with the arrest late last month of a Moorpark man who allegedly agreed to kill someone in exchange for $10,000.

Tyrone Johnson, 40, a convicted felon who is also on probation for forgery, is in jail on suspicion of solicitation to commit murder. Deputies are still searching for the man who allegedly hired him.

The target of the hit was a 30-year-old Moorpark man who may have testified in court against the person who allegedly hired Johnson, authorities said.

Deputies were tipped to the plan when Johnson went looking for another man to help him with the hit, said Eric Nishimoto, a sheriff’s spokesman. That other man was a police informant.

For weeks, deputies tailed Johnson and watched him stake out the intended victim, Nishimoto said.

Johnson, who was never paid, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

*

Two out-of-towners have been commended by the Sheriff’s Department for risking their lives to rescue a 53-year-old Camarillo man from his burning apartment in August.

Donna Lambe, 36, of Palmdale and Greg Wolter, 47, of Burbank rescued Jack Peterson after he fell asleep in a chair while smoking a cigarette. The cigarette started a fire in the living room.

Lambe, an off-site apartment manager who was at the complex on business, and Wolter, who was helping his mother move in next door to Peterson, smelled the smoke and ran to the rescue, said Senior Deputy Jim Aguirre.

Lambe used a master key to open the front door while Wolter tore off a rear screen door to get inside. After dragging Peterson outside, Lambe doused the flames with a fire extinguisher.

“Without thinking about their own safety they entered this room that was on fire and saved this guy, and then Donna went back in with a fire extinguisher and put it out,” Aguirre said.

Pretty cool actions in the face of hot circumstances.

*

E-mail can be sent to holly.wolcott@latimes.com.