Officers are hoping that regardless of current incidents, the stretch of Freeway 4 in Contra Costa County might expertise fewer visitors deaths this yr than the 16 individuals who died in 2021.
That quantity represents greater than one-third of all freeway or freeway deaths within the county. Nonetheless, three months into the brand new yr, the California Freeway Patrol is expressing cautious optimism that issues could also be turning safer on the roadway.
“Knock on wooden, we appear to be trending rather a lot decrease,” CHP Officer Adam Lane stated this week. “It’s not solely on Freeway 4, however all through Contra Costa County.”
Till Sunday evening, the narrow-shouldered freeway, which options occasional sharp turns and frequent development, had not seen a fatality in 2022. That ended about 9:35 p.m. when Antioch resident Benjamin Jaffin, 25, misplaced management and overturned within the Toyota 4Runner he was driving within the westbound course simply east of the Auto Heart Drive/Somersville Highway exit in Antioch.
On Tuesday evening, a pickup truck hit and killed 35-year-old pedestrian Terrence McNeal-Bonner, of Antioch, after he had walked out into freeway visitors within the eastbound course simply east of the Loveridge Highway on-ramp in Pittsburg, the CHP stated. That collision occurred about 10:50 p.m.
The newest deaths recorded on Freeway 4 earlier than Jaffin’s occurred on Nov. 1, when two individuals died in separate crashes about 7½ hours aside. These deaths marked the third time in 2021 that there was multiple deadly crash in a day on the freeway.
The almost 5 full months with out a fatality since then marked the longest such stretch on Freeway 4 since early 2020.
“That’s what we’re hoping for,” Lane stated.
By comparability, 5 individuals already had died on Freeway 4 by way of March 31 of final yr, persevering with what Lane known as a “regular pattern” of fatalities throughout the 12-month interval main as much as it. That pattern led to modifications, he stated, starting in July.
Additional CHP patrol models started to observe the freeway, trying just for drivers going exceedingly quick and others who seemed to be driving too aggressively or with distractions.
“We’ve had 1000's of citations written for these three issues since July 2021,” Lane stated. “Hundreds.”
Lane stated the CHP additionally obtained grants that allowed extra patrols to hunt out drivers below the affect.
“In the event you’re on that freeway often, you’ll discover all the extra CHP models,” Lane stated. “They’re laborious to overlook.”
For now, the numbers point out the freeway seems to be a bit safer, a tone-setter maybe for the remainder of freeways in Contra Costa County. Lane stated that coming into the ultimate day of March, solely 5 fatalities on any of the Contra Costa County freeways or highways had occurred.
“Let’s hope it stays that approach,” he stated.