77 Crashes Reported in LA County During Wednesday Night's Rains

There were 77 traffic collisions on Los Angeles County freeways and other areas patrolled by the California HighwayPatrol in a four-hour period overnight during the rains, compared with 15 from the same period a week earlier, authorities said today.

The statistics compared the four-hour period beginning at 10 p.m. Wednesday to the same period seven days earlier, said California Highway Patrol Officer Jennifer Cassidy.

"It's not the weather that's caused the crashes: it's the drivers," said CHP Officer Francisco Villalobos. "We've seen a significant increase in the number of traffic collisions at onramps and offramp, spinning out and hitting guardrails. That tells us people are driving too fast for the conditions."

Among the traffic problems were a series of multi-vehicle collisions in the Pasadena area that blocked Foothill (210) Freeway transition lanes in both directions.

The first accident, involving three big rigs and a Mercedes-Benz, closed the two-lane connector road between separate sections of the eastbound 210 around 11:35 p.m. Wednesday, CHP Officer Alex Rubio said. No injuries were reported.

The second accident, around 12:30 a.m., closed the westbound transition lanes of the freeway, which also connect separate sections of the 210 west, after a big rig jackknifed and collided with a sedan.

In a third incident, a big rig jackknifed at 12:40 a.m. and blocked the two transition lanes on an overpass from the eastbound Ventura (134) Freeway to the westbound 210, according to the CHP.

—City News Service