New Traffic Light Unveiled at Scene of Fatal Hit and Run

LOS ANGELES (CNS) - On Monday, a new traffic signal was switched on in the Westlake district, four years after a baby was killed in a fatal hit and run accident on Super Bowl Sunday.

Councilman Ed Reyes, who represents the Westlake district, celebrated the installation of the traffic signal at the intersection of Bonnie Brae Street and Olympic Boulevard with a group of area dignitaries and teachers and students from the nearby Camino Nuevo Charter School.

"This is what is at jeopardy when you don't pay attention to the road -- the lives of our children,'' Reyes said. "It is for them that we are here today. Tens of thousands of people use these streets every day. The installation of this traffic signal is a victory for those children, the community and all of us.''

On Feb. 1, 2009, 11-month-old Yudith Ausencia died after being struck by a vehicle while she was in a stroller being pushed across a marked crosswalk by her mother. Her mother and 5-year-old sister survived her injuries.

Henry Yovanni Moreno, 30, of South Gate was later arrested in connection with the collision and is now serving a five-year sentence for vehicular manslaughter and hit and run.

"Most pedestrians or drivers are not attentive to what is going on in the road," Los Angeles Police Department Detective Johnny Meneses said. "That's why this signal light is so important, to attract attention to what's going on in the intersection and the immediate vicinity of the intersection.''

There have been 54 traffic collisions at or near the intersection where the new traffic signal was installed since 2000, according to the LAPD.

From City News Service