Increase in Traffic is Warning Sign for Drivers to be More Alert
By Ruth Lepper

With the high number of vehicles traveling on State Route 67 every day, traffic collisions seem to be inevitable. With more and more roadside memorials popping up, it brings attention to the seriousness of the situation - and a warning to drive safely on the highway.

The Poway Sheriff's Department covers a portion of SR 67, about a 5.5-mile stretch roughly from Iron Mountain Road north to Rockhouse Road, an area that falls within the Poway city limits.

California Highway Patrol out of El Cajon covers the rest of SR 67, or about 15 miles between Ramona and Lakeside.

"CHP handles everything we don't," said Sgt. Lloyd Muenzer, with the Poway Sheriff's Department.

The Statistics

Records dating to 1988 indicate 7,562 traffic collisions in Poway during that time. Of that figure, 2,072 collisions occurred on the SR 67 stretch through Poway city limits.

The fatalities, most of which were before 1994, numbers 14 from January 1988 to July 2006.

From Jan. 1, 1992 to present, 1,288 collisions and 30 deaths have occured on Highway 67 between Ramona and Lakeside.

"They (Caltrans) did some improvements in the mid-90s," Muenzer said. "There have been five fatals since 1998, so the road improvements must have helped."

Sideswiping and rear-end collisions are the main causes of traffic accidents, according to Muenzer's records. Nearly 23 percent of accidents involve traveling at unsafe speeds. Driving under the influence amounts for 15 percent of all accidents, he said. That is higher than CHP figures, which account for about 8.25 percent.

Driving on the wrong side of the road also is a major factor. That problem could be curtailed with a center divider, Muenzer said.

CHP statistics date to 1992. There were a total of 1,288 collisions during that time that fell within CHP's jurisdiction, with 954 since the beginning of 1998 to present.

Those numbers could be attributed to the number of vehicles traveling SR 67. California Department of Transportation reports that 31,500 vehicles in both 2004 and 2005, traveling north and south, pass through Ramona at Main Street and Montecito Road every 24 hours, Monday through Friday.

Photos by Jamey Ritter

According to Hayden Manning, a spokesperson for Caltrans, that is a record high for the area, up from 30,000 in 1996. The junction of SR 67 and Poway Road had 26,000 vehicles passing through the same year.

"It is a busy highway and given the amount of cars we have going up and down the road and the amount of collisions we have, it's not any worse than similar highways," said CHP Officer Brian Pennings, comparing SR 67 to State Routes 94, 78 and 76.

Overall, from Jan. 1, 1992, to present, CHP reports 1,288 collisions on SR 67 between Ramona and Lakeside. Of that, 30 people were killed in 27 fatal accidents, with 979 injuries.

There were two years - 2002 and 2003 - that no fatalities were reported by CHP. The highest number of people killed in one year occurred in 1998 with seven fatalities.

On the average, CHP records indicate SR 67 has 86 traffic collisions annually: seven DUI-related, with two fatalities and 65 injuries.

While several factors are involved - DUI, unsafe speed, head-on and rear-end collisions, sideswiping and hitting other objects, Muenzer summed it up with his own analogy.

"There are only two causes of accidents," he said. "Impatience and inattention."