Speed, Drink Pump Up Accident Statistics : Highways: The CHP says more crashes occur between 4 and 5 p.m., on Fridays or in October.

The quaint highway wends through the scenic countryside of the Santa Clara Valley, treating commuters to glimpses of roadside fruit stands and hillside citrus groves.

But California 126 is more than just another pretty country road--it is a stretch of often deadly highway known to local residents as “Blood Alley.”

“Highway 126 has been known for its tremendously spectacular accidents,” said Sgt. Bob Dickie of the California Highway Patrol. “People tend to drive faster on the road than they should.”

The highway is only one of several thoroughfares well-known to the 81 CHP officers who daily patrol 846.7 miles of roadway in Ventura County.

In 1989, 3,382 accidents occurred on highways in Ventura County, according to the latest statistics available from the California Department of Transportation. Forty-eight were fatal and 1,483 resulted in injuries.

The heavily traveled Ventura Freeway had 924 accidents, more than any other highway in the county. But California 126 came in second in the number of fatalities during the year.

In 1989, 13 people were killed and 241 were injured in 142 accidents on 126. There were another 145 non-injury accidents, according to Caltrans statistics.

“Highway 126 has historically been one of our major accident beats in the county,” CHP Officer Jim Utter said. “Some people call it Blood Alley.”

But Dickie and Utter said motorists travel the road more slowly than they once did.

Before CHP officers began using radar in 1981 to catch speeding drivers, the average road speed was about 80 m.p.h., Dickie said. He said motorists now go an average of 70 m.p.h., still 15 m.p.h. over the speed limit.

Utter said the road has been widened in some parts, and left-turn lanes were added for safety in the past seven years. Caltrans continues to make improvements and is widening the area near Fillmore to four lanes, an official said.

Another area that has gained notoriety among CHP officers is “Edison Curve,” a stretch of California 33 north of Casitas Vista Road in the Ojai Valley.

Motorists driving around the sharp corner near the Southern California Edison substation are advised to slow to 30 m.p.h.

But many do not. Dickie said the curve has gained infamy because of accidents that occur when people driving 55 to 60 m.p.h. hit the bend too fast and plow headfirst into a grove of eucalyptus trees near the power station.

More accidents in the county last year occurred between 4 and 5 p.m. than any other hour, according to Caltrans statistics. More than 17% of the wrecks occurred on Fridays, with 15% happening on Saturdays. October was the month with the greatest number of accidents, according to Caltrans.

Speeding was listed in 29.8% of the accidents as the primary collision factor--more than any other cause cited.

CHP officers said the area most notorious for speeding is the Ventura Freeway, where drivers “fly” rather than drive.

Officers said Ventura County’s section of open road along the Ventura Freeway is probably a relief to motorists headed to Los Angeles who have been delayed by stoplights and construction on U.S. 101 in Santa Barbara.

“When it’s wide open, it’s a relief,” said Officer Chris Day, as he patrolled the highway bordered on one side by the ocean’s crashing waves and on the other by rugged mountainside. “People go flying through here.”

But motorists barely crawl along the road if they hit the evening or morning commute traffic snarls near Victoria Avenue.

With its continued population growth, Ventura County’s roadways have become more traffic-laden and are growing in similarity to Los Angeles County highways, Dickie said.

Morning rush hour lasts from about 5:30 to 9 a.m. as commuters try to get out of the county, Dickie said. The worst snarls are on the Ventura Freeway and westbound on California 118 at Somis Road. In the afternoon, traffic backs up most noticeably on the Ventura Freeway, he said.

“We’re not L.A. yet, but we’re getting busier,” Dickie said.

But it is neither the traffic jam nor the speeder that most bothers county CHP officers, they said.

Their biggest enemy continues to be the drinking driver, Dickie said.

He said the public still does not understand what officials mean by a drinking driver. Many people think that they can drive unless they are falling down drunk, Dickie said. However, any amount of alcohol that “impairs a person in their capacity to operate” a vehicle is dangerous, he said.

The influence of alcohol was listed as the primary collision factor in 418, or 12.3%, of the county’s accidents in 1989, according to Caltrans statistics.

One unofficial statistic kept by CHP Officer Day shows that Ventura motorists are like drivers everywhere else: About 50% argue when they get a ticket.