Deputies with the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station’s Traffic Unit focused their efforts Tuesday on “primary causal factors,” or stopping behind-the-wheel behaviors that cause crashes, with more than five dozen citations given.
Traffic deputies conducted their operation in Santa Clarita from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m., according to Deputy Natalie Arriaga, spokeswoman for the SCV Sheriff’s Station.
While the operation was part of deputies’ regular efforts to keep roads safe, Tuesday’s operations was also a response to an increase in the number of reported collisions, according to a news release.
“During a recent traffic enforcement operation, motor deputies issued 34 citations for speeding, 20 citations for failure to stop at a stop sign and eight citations for using a cellphone while driving,” Arriaga noted in the release issued Friday. “These fall under the most common causes of collisions, along with vehicles following too closely to the vehicle in front of them and crossing an intersection when cross traffic is approaching.”
The operation comes amid a 30-day stretch that’s seen at least three fatal crashes in the SCV: Murdewiyanti Finn, 48, of Lancaster, was killed in a traffic collision on Highway 14 in Newhall on Oct. 18, when a truck crashed into her car ; Manuel Dacosta, 23, of Valencia, was killed in a solo-vehicle traffic collision in Stevenson Ranch on Nov. 8; and Brayden Madden, 20, of Santa Clarita, died Wednesday while he was trying to evade law enforcement officers at a high speed on his motorcycle, near Haskell Canyon Road in Saugus.
“We would like to ask for your help in making our roads safer for everyone by slowing down, keeping a safe distance of at least one vehicle between you and the vehicle in front of you and adhere to traffic signs,” Arriaga wrote. “Stay safe today, for a safer tomorrow.”
