Highway To Homicide

By Frank Trippett

Driving the clogged roadways around Los Angeles has always been nerve-racking and deadly dull. But for the past two months it has been simply deadly. Since June 18 three people have been killed, seven injured and ten arrested, as more than 40 shootings, assorted rock throwings and other violent incidents have turned the Southern California highways into a terror zone. Last week alone brought 19 reported episodes of gunfire, five arrests and an all but surreal suggestion that the crackpot violence had spread to the skies.

In the most bizarre episode to date, the pilot of a small airplane who was spotting fish some 30 miles off the coast of Newport Beach reported that a rival fish-spotting pilot, just yards away, had drawn a gun on him, though no shots were fired. It was not the only example of the violence reaching into new territory. Highway officials in Arizona, Washington, Utah and Northern California reported armed confrontations last week, with one woman wounded near San Francisco.

As terror spread among California commuters, officials were desperately casting about for a way to restore peace. California Assemblyman Paul Zeltner announced he would introduce legislation requiring a minimum three-year prison sentence and permanent revocation of the driver's license of any person caught shooting from a car. The Los Angeles County board of supervisors offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of roadway gunmen. Los Angeles City Attorney James Hahn vowed to jail all gun-toting motorists. Said Hahn: "People are going to start learning that this isn't the wild West anymore."

For the moment, though, "high noon" seems to be at hand anytime, anywhere. Trucker Carl Russell Miller, 27, of Long Beach, had merely stopped his six- wheeler to stretch at about 3 a.m., when a motorist shot out his windshield; flying glass cut Miller's face. Stephen Broderson, 19, said he had made "your normal, everyday lane change" on the San Diego Freeway, when the occupants of a Datsun King Cab pickup tried to force him off the road and fired two rifle bullets into the side of his car. According to police, Edward Petterez, 21, of South Gate, simply honked at a passenger van when it cut in front of him. Result: two shots that fortunately missed.

No one has offered any clear diagnosis of the highway madness. One factor is said to be the stresses of bumper-to-bumper competition, aggravated by the easy availability of guns. There is also the copycat syndrome. "Even the most mild-mannered among us has fantasies of blowing away the guy who cuts in front of him," observes Dr. Martin Brenner, an Orange County stress specialist. His advice: "Just be a wimp behind the wheel."

Many individuals seem to have adopted that policy. One motorist was seen sporting a window sign that said DON'T SHOOT!!! I'M SORRY. An Orange County firm is marketing a reversible car sign that offers an angry warning on one side and a PLEASE DON'T SHOOT plea on the other. The Budget-Rent-A-Car agency in western Los Angeles reports a 300% increase in requests for bullet- resistant cars.

A perverse fringe benefit of the violence has been a widely observed improvement in highway manners. Says California Highway Patrol Sergeant Mark Lunn: "Most people are very attentive now and very, very polite."

With reporting by Dan Goodgame and Nancy Seufert/Los Angeles