1 Killed, 2 Hurt Crossing Freeway Near U. S. Border

One man was killed and another was seriously injured early Sunday when they were struck by a car along Interstate 5 near Dairy Mart Road, slightly more than a mile north of the U.S.-Mexico border, authorities said. A third man received minor injuries.

All three are presumed to have been illegal aliens from Mexico on their way north, authorities said.

After entering the United States on foot, many border crossers, fearing arrest if they use local streets, must negotiate the maze of freeways that converge at the border. Many never make it.

The California Highway Patrol recorded at least 28 such pedestrian fatalities last year, setting a new standard for carnage on area highways. Several incidents have already occurred this year, including Sunday’s fatal accident.

The incidents have attracted national attention to what was for many years a little-noticed, albeit grisly, sidelight of the annual movement of hundreds of thousands of undocumented people through San Diego County.

In response to the problem, the California Department of Transportation has posted a sign just north of the border warning drivers to beware of pedestrians. Caltrans has also trimmed the highway green areas, which provide the illegal aliens with cover, and has begun to augment lighting along the highways.

Immigrant advocates have called for more drastic action, perhaps including reducing the speed limit near the border. Caltrans officials say they are studying a range of possible responses.

In Sunday’s incident, authorities said the three men were struck in the northbound lanes of I-5 about 5:15 a.m. by a car driven by a woman from Downey, Calif.

Benjamin Zepeda Perez died of massive head injuries at the scene, the coroner’s office said. Jeronimo Molina, 26, was taken by Life Flight helicopter to UC San Diego Medical Center, where the nursing supervisor said he was in serious condition Sunday with multiple injuries.

Cristobal Molina, 28, was treated for minor injuries at Scripps Memorial Hospital in Chula Vista and released.

The CHP was investigating.