Traffic safety measures added on Highway 68 after deadly crash

Slow for the cone is coming with some extra safety measures in Monterey County after a traffic worker was hit and killed about two weeks ago.

Pacific Gas & Electric is continuing its work along Highway 68, and NewsChannel 5 has learned there are added safety measures for that project. Nighttime drivers are starting to notice some safety enhancements, like those flashing lights, letting them know a California Highway Patrol officer is watching. Officers are a new addition since that deadly accident.

“Everyone just goes right through them like they’re not even there,” said David Galpin.

Galpin said he drives Highway 68 everyday and is referring to some speed bumps, designed to get drivers to slow down. A little more than two weeks ago, CHP said 51-year-old Jesus Fernandez of Tracy, CA, was killed on the eastbound side of the road while working within the safety zone. Adam Zubiate, 50, appeared in court on Tuesday charged with killing Fernandez while driving under the influence. Officers are on-location every night within the construction zone, to encourage drivers to follow the law and all posted signs.

“What CalTrans has done, they reached out to the CHP for presence, traffic control, enforcement and service,” said Lieutenant Robert Kaczor.

A CalTrans worker, who said he witnessed the accident, tells us the speed bumps and a car escort from the traffic company were both present the night Fernandez was killed. But drivers like Galpin think CHP is making a difference.

“Once they see the workers everything slows down then and you know they have highway patrol cars, you see their lights on and that’s when people start to slow down,” Galpin said.

Fernandez worked for Bay Area Trafffic Solutions, the company said it won’t comment on any added safety measures, at the family’s request. Officers said Zubiate is accused of driving through a cone pattern, passing another car before hitting Fernandez. CHP said it’s hoping flashing lights will be a signal to slow down, at no additional cost.

“The importance of that is we’re not pulling people off the beat, we’re pulling officers off the highway off their beats to do this. So we’re doing this as a supplemental to our normal patrol services for CalTrans,” Kaczor said.

Officers said they’re also looking for people using cellphones, while they wait for construction traffic to move through. Zubiate is scheduled to be in court again in January.