Early Action Saves Money, Lives

Better late than never. Although Los Angeles officials have known about hazardous drainage and engineering problems along La Tuna Canyon Road east of Sun Valley since at least 1970, it took five lives, 27 years and nearly $3 million in settlements before those problems were fixed. Last week, the City Council banned heavy trucks on a section of La Tuna Canyon--the latest move in a long-overdue package of measures designed to make the road safer for motorists.

But a big question remains: How many other potential hazards like La Tuna Canyon Road remain scattered across the city? The problem in La Tuna Canyon has always been one of communication. Various city departments--from public works to the city attorney’s office--knew about drainage deficiencies on the road, but that information somehow got lost in the bureaucracy. Nothing got fixed. Motorists continued to die. Settlement costs climbed into the millions.

Clearly, early action could have saved lives and money. Repairs to the road and its drains earlier this year cost roughly $250,000, about 1/10th the amount paid out in claims to accident victims and their families over the years. What’s needed are clear and open lines of communication among city departments. That means traffic cops should be talking to traffic engineers and city attorneys should be talking to street maintenance supervisors. Each brings unique expertise to the table.

When accidents occur, reports need to be read and acted upon, not simply tossed in a pile of pending work orders. Ultimately, though, the council must create a bureaucratic environment where this kind of communication is possible. How? By taking the lead and mobilizing other efforts the way City Councilman Joel Wachs did with La Tuna Canyon Road. Will such efforts cost more? Perhaps initially, but a few ounces of prevention cost far less in the long run. A single successful claim against the city can end up costing taxpayers more than dozens of minor repairs--which, in many cases, are all that’s necessary.

If there is a lesson in the tragedies along La Tuna Canyon Road, it’s that small problems allowed to go untended can have disastrous consequences. That lesson has hit the wallets of taxpayers hard, but has hit the hearts of victims’ families even harder. It should not be forgotten.