
DATE: Wednesday, September 10, 1997         TAG: 9709100561

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY NAOMI AOKI AND NIA NGINA MEEKS, STAFF WRITERS 

                                            LENGTH:  124 lines

BAY BRIDGE-TUNNEL BANS PASSING SIX PEOPLE HAVE DIED ON SPAN SINCE JUNE

Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel officials have banned passing on the span in the wake of a series of deadly accidents that claimed six lives this summer.

The action was taken Tuesday by the commission that oversees operation of the 17-mile span. Officials estimate that the ban will take effect in about two weeks - as soon as no-passing signs can be posted and solid center lines painted.

``It's not going to solve everything,'' said James K. Brookshire, executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel District. ``But hopefully this will be a major step in making the bridge-tunnel safer.''

The bridge-tunnel's deadliest accident ever happened during the Labor Day weekend when a driver tried to pass a slower-moving car and clipped two vehicles. Five people were killed when the car that was passing went over the guardrail and into the water.

Four days later, a two-car accident left four people injured. And in June, a woman died in a fiery crash when her car collided head-on with a tractor-trailer.

The commission voted 8-2 for the ban on passing, Brookshire said.

``The public is concerned about safety,'' Brookshire said. ``We'd like to alleviate some of their concerns.''

Summer months are historically the most heavily traveled and deadliest for the span. In the 20 months before the June accident, there were no fatalities on the bridge-tunnel.

Amy Brush, who regularly travels the span, squealed when she heard about the ban on passing.

``Oh, good!'' the 19-year-old Beach woman said. ``Sometimes I'm scared to even come out here.''

She travels the bridge-tunnel to make it to her job as a clerk at the Sea Gull Pier Restaurant and Gift Shop, a rest stop on the span a little more than three miles from the Virginia Beach line.

``Most people are just impatient,'' Brush said while serving customers at the counter. ``You see someone going 55 mph and then someone going 70 just to pass.''

Currently, passing is banned on less than half the length of the bridge-tunnel. Engineers concluded two years ago that increasing the no-passing zones could frustrate drivers, adding to safety problems.

``We do have some concerns that if you can't pass a slow-moving vehicle, you'll start to get driver frustration and illegal passing,'' Brookshire said.

For that reason, the commission is urging bridge-tunnel police to strictly enforce both the minimum 45 mph and maximum 55 mph speed limits, Brookshire said.

Strict enforcement means people who are driving too slowly may be ticketed, he said. The goal is keep everyone moving as close to 55 mph as possible, he said. Bridge-tunnel police routinely write summonses for speeding but do not normally ticket drivers for going under the speed limit.

``People (who are driving less than 45 mph) are trying really hard to drive carefully,'' Brookshire said. ``We're not looking to write tickets, but if there is no passing out there we feel people must keep up their speed.''

Brookshire said he does not expect the ban on passing to significantly slow traffic over the span.

Since the bridge-tunnel opened in 1964, there have been 45 fatal accidents, Brookshire said. Drivers were attempting to pass in 12 of those. In three cases, drivers were attempting to pass in no-passing zones, he said.

``While passing is one of the factors, it's not all of it,'' Brookshire said. ``I hope that making everything no-passing will help, but we're still going to get your rear-enders or have somebody possibly making a wrong turn out of an island.''

Bridge-tunnel officials hope to cut the number of fatalities by 80 percent when a $200 million parallel span now under construction opens in 1999, Brookshire said. The opening of the span will end head-to-head traffic on the two-lane bridge.

In the meantime, officials hope the passing ban will reduce the number of head-on collisions. They also hope signs warning drivers to stay in their lanes, and within the speed limits, will keep drivers alert.

Brookshire said the commission also discussed lowering the speed limit on the span, which handles 2.8 million vehicles a year, but decided against it. Dropping the maximum speed limit to 45, he said, would likely create more problems than it would solve.

Trucker Oliver Lewis of Brooklyn, N.Y., stood behind the commission's decision to ban passing.

``It doesn't make any sense to pass out there,'' Lewis said as he took a break at Big Charlie's Truck Plaza in Virginia Beach on Tuesday afternoon.

Jack Fisher, who operates the truck stop, said banning passing is a step in the right direction, but not a permanent fix.

``It'll be better when they build the other one,'' Fisher said.

``Guess that's true,'' Lewis said, nodding his head. ``Then they'll all go one way.''

``My niece's husband died out there,'' Fisher added. ``But that was a long time ago.''

``They have more accidents on that thing,'' Lewis said. ``I hope I'm never out there when one hits head-on.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

D. KEVIN ELLIOTT/The Virginian-Pilot

After passing through a toll plaza, traffic on the Chesapeake Bay

Bridge-Tunnel narrows to two lanes. Passing had been allowed on more

than half the length of the 17-mile span.

Graphics