City, sheriff’s department share data to reduce accidents
By Nancy Needham nancy@theacorn.com

The terrible sound of crashing metal, followed by an explosion, came without warning as Mary Yahalom, inside her 1987 Mercedes station wagon, waited to turn onto Hillcrest Drive from Erbes Road on the evening of Dec. 10.

The 58-year-old Thousand Oaks resident was struck by a 2002 Chevrolet pickup truck allegedly driven by Jennifer Obst, 22, of Thousand Oaks. Obst was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence and taken to Los Robles Hospital with moderate injuries, according to Capt. Ron Smith, sheriff ’s department spokesman.

Yahalom said the lack of a storm drain on the northeast corner of the Erbes Road and Hillcrest Drive intersection may have caused water to pool from the rain that day, possibly a contributing factor. She thought the other driver had fishtailed, lost control and flipped 1½ times before landing sideways with the driver’s side on the pavement, Yahalom said.

Fire trucks were called to the scene to remove fuel that leaked from the truck and covered the road, said fire department spokesman Capt. Barry Parker.

“I didn’t see them coming. I heard an enormous crash and then my airbag goes off—it exploded like a bomb—and I knew my car had been hit,” said Yahalom, an insurance agent.

With a burn on her hand and abrasions on her face from the airbag, she tried to get out of the car by opening her door, but since that side of the vehicle had been crushed, she had to crawl to the passenger side and exit from that door.

Her husband, Jerry, on the way to dropping off his car at a mechanic’s, was following in a car behind her, she said.

About 1,600 vehicle crashes have been reported in Thousand Oaks so far in 2006, said Sgt.

Tom Bennett of the T.O. Traffic Bureau. Out of those collisions, there have been three fatalities and 88 DUI arrests. The total number of crashes in 2005 was 1,767.

“There are about five a day. Most happen Monday through Friday during the daytime hours on major thoroughfares when there is the most traffic,” Bennett said.

In a continual effort to reduce the number of accidents in the city, Thousand Oaks police use law enforcement to target speeders and watch for drivers under the influence of alcohol and drugs, Bennett said. The police have also been actively looking into cars to make sure everyone is wearing seat belts.

Those involved in the Dec. 10 crash had on their seat belts, which helped prevent serious injuries that could have occurred in such a major incident, Nelson said. Airbags did not go off inside the truck.

The city’s public works department keeps track of where and how car crashes occur in the city so it can constantly evaluate the safety of the streets, Bennett said.

“We get a copy of all the traffic reports filed. We plot and code them on a map to look for engineering repair solutions,” said public works director Mark Watkins. Accident trends could indicate a problem with the design of a street or a traffic light, he said. Generally, however, accidents

are random—a driver is inattentive, speeding or there is a DUI involved, Watkins said.

Nothing can predict or prevent those types of accidents. When Yahalom’s vehicle was struck, she was more than 100 feet from the intersection, sitting in her stopped car with the radio off, quietly waiting for the cars in front of her to move forward.

“My car now looks like a monster crinkled it up. Both cars are totaled,” Yahalom said.

That makes it all the more remarkable that she, Obst and the passenger in the pickup are all still alive.

“We’re all very lucky,” Yahalom said.