Traffic Accidents California

A sudden, blinding dust storm trapped hundreds of holiday motorists on Interstate 5 in the San Joaquin Valley on Friday, leaving at least 14 people dead and 114 injured in a series of chain-reaction accidents, the California Highway Patrol said. CHP officials said at least 93 cars and 11 big-rig trucks slammed into one another at 2:30 p.m. along a 1 1/2-mile stretch of the highway approximately 45 miles north of Coalinga.

Gerik Baxter, a right-handed pitcher who began the season as the San Diego Padres' fifth-ranked minor league prospect, was killed in a car crash Sunday night in Indio. The crash also claimed the life of Mark Hilde, an unsigned 2001 draft pick of the Oakland Athletics and a former high school teammate of Baxter.

Entertainer Johnny Carson's son was killed when his car plunged more than 100 feet down an embankment near the beach community of Cayucos, authorities said Monday. Richard Wolcott Carson, 39, of North Hollywood, was thrown from his four-wheel-drive vehicle and apparently died instantly in Friday's accident, said Officer Russ Johnson of the California Highway Patrol.

A 23-year-old Arleta man was killed early Tuesday morning when his car crashed into the back of a big-rig truck on the Golden State Freeway in Castaic, authorities said. The victim, whose name was withheld pending notification of his family, was driving a 1994 Toyota Camry south when the crash occurred about 12:30 a.m., said California Highway Patrol Officer Rosa Ray. The driver of the big rig was not injured, Ray said. The victim died at the scene, she said.

Pressed against the backstop, I stared through the sagging mesh toward home plate as the figure in USC colors drilled pitch after pitch over the right field fence and onto Duarte Road. "Who is that? " I asked, nudging a classmate. Crack! A ball landed 450 feet away and bounced toward the Arcadia Public Library. "Bill Seinsoth." Seinsoth. Everyone knew Bill Seinsoth, I thought. Or at least knew of him.

In the first 60 hours of the New Year's holiday, 29 people died in traffic accidents on California roads and highways, and nearly half of them were not wearing seat belts, according to the California Highway Patrol. Eight of the deaths were in Los Angeles County, said CHP Officer Glen Dominguez. And by 6 a.m. Sunday, 1,224 arrests for investigation of drunk driving had been made, he added, 299 of them in Los Angeles County.

At least 13 people died in traffic accidents on California streets and highways during the first 12 hours of the Thanksgiving Day weekend, compared to three fatalities during the same period last year, the California Highway Patrol said Thursday. Drunk-driving arrests also were up in the period, beginning at 6 p.m. Wednesday and ending at 6 a.m. Thursday. Last year, there were 420 arrests in the 12-hour period, compared to 503 this year, said CHP spokesman Robert Strong.

At least 13 people died in traffic accidents on California streets and highways during the first 12 hours of the Thanksgiving Day weekend, compared to three fatalities during the same period last year, the California Highway Patrol said Thursday. Drunk-driving arrests also were up in the period, beginning at 6 p.m. Wednesday and ending at 6 a.m. Thursday. Last year, there were 420 arrests in the 12-hour period, compared to 503 this year, said CHP spokesman Robert Strong.

Cords of firewood that spilled from a flatbed truck aggravated the fiery crash that killed five motorcyclists participating in an annual Labor Day weekend trip in the Sierra Nevada, the California Highway Patrol said Sunday. Authorities said the load spilled after the driver of the truck crossed into an oncoming lane and into the path of dozens of bikers.

The bodies of eight young people were found early Saturday at a highway crash scene strewn with beer cans and bottles, the California Highway Patrol reported. The victims' ages ranged from 15 to 21. All had been in the same vehicle, according to CHP Officer Jim Neeley, who investigated the head-on collision of two small pickup trucks.

A crackdown Thursday by the California Highway Patrol against dangerous drivers of big trucks resulted in 1,303 tickets in the first seven hours, a spokesman said. Excessive speed was the most frequent violation, producing 542 citations between 6 a.m. and 1 p.m., the CHP said. Officers also ticketed drivers of 55 passenger vehicles statewide for such offenses as cutting off trucks in traffic or tailgating, said spokesman Tom Marshall.

A crackdown Thursday by the California Highway Patrol against dangerous drivers of big trucks resulted in 1,303 tickets in the first seven hours, a spokesman said. Excessive speed was the most frequent violation, producing 542 citations between 6 a.m. and 1 p.m., the CHP said. Officers also ticketed drivers of 55 passenger vehicles statewide for such offenses as cutting off trucks in traffic or tailgating, said spokesman Tom Marshall.

Striking back at big rig drivers who cause deadly traffic crashes, the California Highway Patrol plans a crackdown today on truckers who break the law. The CHP said the statewide operation, set to begin at dawn, will send a beefed-up force of up to 1,500 officers to target violators whose driving threatens the lives and safety of others. "They've got to slow these things down. They've got to drive more responsibly," CHP Commissioner D.O. "Spike" Helmick said of menacing big rig operators.

Striking back at big rig drivers who cause deadly traffic crashes, the California Highway Patrol plans a crackdown today on truckers who break the law. The CHP said the statewide operation, set to begin at dawn, will send a beefed-up force of up to 1,500 officers to target violators whose driving threatens the lives and safety of others. "They've got to slow these things down. They've got to drive more responsibly," CHP Commissioner D.O. "Spike" Helmick said of menacing big rig operators.

Two suspected illegal immigrants were killed and eight others injured Saturday when their sport utility vehicle skidded off Interstate 8 in a mountainous area east of San Diego, officials said. The vehicle, with 12 people aboard, tumbled 100 feet down an embankment near Pine Valley, about 30 miles east of San Diego. Just moments earlier, the vehicle had attempted to evade the Border Patrol checkpoint on I-8 by taking a circuitous route off the freeway.

When the lights went out in Chico, Calif., last week, H. Thomas Ganz quickly pulled to the side of the road, parked and started watching. Ganz had more than passing curiosity. The former California Highway Patrol officer now makes his living analyzing crash scenes as an accident reconstruction specialist.

The photos, piled carelessly on a canvas chair in front of Bert Blyleven's locker, bore mute testimony to his chilling description of the traffic accident in which his wife, daughter and two sons were injured last Thursday. "I'm very lucky to have them back," Blyleven said of his family.

A van packed with 28 people thought to be undocumented immigrants flipped in a drainage ditch Friday in the Imperial County town of Holtville, leaving one man in a coma and the other occupants with minor injuries, officials said. U.S. Border Patrol agents trailing the van used CPR to revive three people found submerged in knee-deep water after the van crashed off a dirt road, said Bill Strassberger, a spokesman for the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

One man died Monday when a pickup truck with 24 illegal immigrants on board overturned on a rural highway near the U.S.-Mexico border. The pickup was heading the wrong way with its headlights off just before 1 a.m. on Interstate 8 when the driver lost control, said California Highway Patrol Officer Jose Salazar. A 42-year-old man from the southwestern Mexican state of Guerrero died in the crash. The other 23 people suffered minor injuries and were treated at local hospitals.

Six suspected illegal immigrants were killed and eight others injured when the sport utility vehicle in which they were riding overturned on Interstate 8 in eastern Imperial County, officials said Friday. The vehicle, a 1983 Chevrolet Suburban, tumbled twice on Thursday after entering from Mexico in the desert 30 miles east of Calexico, authorities said. Most of the passengers were thrown from the vehicle.