Caltrans Solution

Your Jan. 23 article about accidents on the Riverside Freeway near the toll road raises an interesting question: Why is it that Caltrans’ only solution to a traffic problem is to build more freeways/lanes? Experience during the L.A. Olympics should have taught us that minor changes in driving behavior can have a major effect on congestion and, by extension, the number of accidents that occur.

This is an industry that hasn’t changed the basic driver-auto-road relationship since turn indicators and the offramp were invented in the 1950s. Isn’t there anything in the “smart highways” program that will help reduce accidents without pouring more concrete?

FRITZ MEHRTENS

Irvine