Local News in Brief : Stop Sign Erected at Site of 2 Deaths

A stop sign was put up Wednesday at a Beachwood Canyon intersection where two elderly women were killed last week as they attempted to cross at the busy corner.

Hildegarde Haskell, 77, who used a metal walker, and Hazel Selden, 80, were run down by a hit-and-run driver as they crossed Beachwood Drive at Scenic Avenue on their way to dinner at a friend’s house. Police later arrested Beatrice Margaret Buocz, 41, a teacher accused of driving the car.

Haskell’s friends and neighbors placed candles and flowers at the intersection and held a vigil there to attract attention to safety needs at that corner. Residents of the neighborhood say the accident might have been avoided if the intersection had a traffic signal, painted crosswalks or a stop sign.

The three-way stop sign installed Wednesday is but a first step, Los Angeles City Councilman Michael Woo told reporters at a news conference. He also called for the installation of crosswalks and additional street lighting.

Woo said he had tried twice to get a stop sign at the corner before last week’s accident, but the city’s Department of Transportation turned him down. He said the department rejected the sign on the grounds that traffic did not warrant it.