Police Cite 60 Drivers During Crosswalk Stings

Santa Barbara will make a killing, (sad face), on this one!!
How about stinging people pushing overloaded shopping carts on city sidewalks and streets?

This is great! We could really make traffic enforcement a revenue source if we dedidcated the resources to it. If the County would cite every person speeding on Cathedral Oaks Road and Foothill Road and the Highway Patrol would nab every person exceeding 65 mph on the freeway, we could significantly add to revenues without raising taxes. Ultimately most people would slow down and obey the law and the roads would be safer for all of us. The effort would continue to produced increased revenues though because some stubborn people will just never get it and insist on speeding. So they can pay! A tax on bad behavior is the best kind of tax.

Wow, you people in SB really have nothing to do?

This really isn't about having nothing to do. I have lost count of the number of times I've nearly been hit walking through a cross walk, even after I checked, double checked and triple checked before entering the pedestrian cross walk. Yet, I was still hit while in a cross walk and to this day have permanent, irreversible damage in my arm, and ended up losing my job as a result. Oh, and no nice settlement to compensate for the damages. But the important part is that I have my life, and it has made me very cautious about watching out for pedestrians.
Please, slow down Santa Barbara!!

"The officers set up orange cones 200 feet away on both sides of the crossings and stopped drivers who didn’t begin breaking by the markers after the decoy — John Rousseau with the city’s traffic engineering office — stepped off the curb and onto the road."

I had to read this sentence several times before I finally understood it - I believe "breaking" should be "braking."
If so, SBPD requires drivers to begin braking 200 ft. before the crosswalk when a pedestrian is present, is that correct? 200 ft?

I am all for this, but there is a flip-side too and they should then do stings AGAINST pedestrians not following the laws because many make it impossible for vehicles to get anywhere at some of the crosswalks if a vehicle were to strictly follow the law. (ala do not drive thru until all pedestrians are completely out of the crosswalk) The flashing red light means do NOT enter the crosswalk and is a warning for those already in it - State Street especially, the crosswalk remains full and people needing to turn right are often stuck, or having to slam the gas at the last second - not to mention sometimes large groups blocking when you try to drive just straight across. On top of that many of them dash into the street at the last second not paying attention because they are on their cellphone and then as you wait for them to cross (er, finish their phone call), oh, they go the long way, exit the crosswalk and go at a diagonal in the middle of the street to get to the sidewalk instead of going corner to corner. And then the light goes red and you can sit through the same scenario in the next cycle or sit there until traffic dies.

As for De la Vina the pedestrians are not crossing at intersections, they just walk across wherever they want, same goes for most one-way sections of streets, is this jaywalking then? Would the driver be ticketed for their jaywalking? Or?

If a specific area is known to be too dangerous for people to cross then instead of ticketing drivers, wouldn't it make sense to A.) not let it be a crossing B.) put in a light if there is not one. (or C. of course don;t let people drive there ha ha) This leads to costs that are probably silly, but then that is reality and laws should also be enforced based on reality and reality is: if people are too dumb to cross a street or too dumb to not hit people crossing the street then regardless of the laws it's going to happen. Naturally every instance should be judged on a unique case by case basis, many laws do not regard facts and circumstance when created ala just being a blind blanket over a problem that is too wiggly to really stay under it and conform.

I'm glad that SB is doing these sting operations. Several years ago I was hit by a driver while on a crosswalk on Cabrillo. The driver didn't stop, and I was lucky to have walked away from the incident. It was more than a little tap - I was a rag doll being tossed through the air. I never reported the incident. I pretty much fled the scene out of embarrassment (of all bizarre reactions to have - very similar to Dane Cook's stand-up about people being hit by cars!). Now of course I realize that I was in shock. I was either entirely lucky or had an angel watching over me.

As for the Milpas cross-walks...they're terrible and extremely dangerous! The city needs to do something about them. It's not just drivers that need more awareness. There are four lanes down Milpas and it's a very busy street. Just last week I was driving in the right hand lane, next to another car in the left lane who was a little over a car's length ahead of me. That driver suddenly slammed on the brakes, and thank goodness I did too, because there was a pedestrian crossing. My view was blocked by the other car! In the morning driving south down Milpas, one is driving into the sun and the shadows from the trees create a large contrast between light and dark; it's difficult to see people in the shadows! I'm all for cross-walks, but I think these ones on Milpas should either be eliminated, or have a light-up strip to signal that there's a pedestrian. I know the city has no money, so maybe they should just close the Milpas cross-walks down until they have the funding to make it safer.

De La Vina could get a lot more attention this and also for speeders. Drivers on that street do not stop for pedestrians ESPECIALLY the ones using the crosswalks. I would say it might actually be safer to jaywalk than to use a crosswalk because at least in that case you never rely on the cars to stop you just cross when clear.

Isn't it possible to stop safely for a pedestrian in less than 200 feet when going 30 mph? My understanding is that the stopping distance formulas include assumptions about driver reaction times which are actually an upper bound for something like 85% of the population, and that this upper bound includes data from all kinds of drivers who span multiple age groups, and possibly also multiple levels of alertness (?). Does the CVC actually specify a certain distance at which you must start braking? It would be frustrating if you stopped in time, in a perfectly safe and reasonable manner, but still got a ticket. Of course, it should go without saying that those who are driving past the pedestrians without any care to their safety should absolutely be given tickets.

Much more needs to be done about aggressive drivers, aggresive bicyclists, and all-around bad road sharing habits. This is however, a good start.

@Num1UofAn De La Vina (depending what section) is narrow and trying to accommodate moving cars, bikes, parked cars, and then pedestrians popping out from behind the parked cars at random to walk across the street. Crappy street specifications should not fall on driver's alone.

Good to read the pro-hit-the-pedestrians argument by JWDL here.

Don't forget to go after bikers and pedestrians who flout the laws also.

I drive that stretch of de la Vina 2x each day. I stopped properly during the sting and therefore did not get a citation.
Pedestrians ALWAYS walk out from behind cars on that stretch; how is JWDL pointing out the fact that this particular stretch of roadway is more dangerous? Nor did JWDL claim this is the fault of bikes and pedestrians, just that they too have a responsibility to look out for cars and trucks.
C'mon JL, like we're going to start citing bicyclists that are green, smug, and superior to those of us that are in motorized vehicles?

How many skateboarders have killed pedestrians?

If the city wants to make the BIG BUCKS on a sting, they need to post police officers on Shoreline Dr and Cabrillo Blvd.
I wish I had 10 bucks for everytime I have seen a car run the stop sign and nearly hit pedestrians on the corner of La Marina and Shoreline. The new and improved Cliff Drive does not have any crosswalks between City College and Meigs Road.
Lots of Silly College students jaywalk, but they have to, no freaking crosswalks. Oh another thing about Cliff Drive. If you drive the speed limit, especially at night, people use the right/left turn lane to pass! It's hideous. One more thing. I am getting really tired of seeing people ride their bicycles on the sidewalks, it's rampant. People also ride their bikes on the bike lanes on Bath St and Castillo the WRONG way. Dangerous! It's even worse when they ride up De la Vina or down bath street on the sidewalk. What's up with that? Yikes, lawlessness prevails. I love this city and have lived here since 1977, I am in support of enforcing pedestrian safety. I seem to remember hearing that pedestrians always have the right of way. Drivers who drive too fast and are not aware of pedestrians and other hazards are unconscious beings. You know the cars that require you to blow into a tube before you start the car? Maybe we should design a car that only starts after you have done 20 minutes of meditation!!

So the cones were set up 200 feet away from the crosswalk, roughly 2/3 of a football field which seems like a long distance. Was the decoy actually in the crosswalk when the drivers were ticketed or were they supposed to be anticipating that the decoy might enter the crosswalk. I'm all for keeping the streets safer but I have seen more times when pedestrian approached the corner and didn't enter the crosswalk but stopped and looked for traffic to be lighter before entering the crosswalk.

My point is that if the decoy is in the crosswalk, then the drivers should be ticketed if they don't stop to let them cross. From the write up it sounds like the cops were ticketing people if they didn't stop before what they felt was a somewhat arbitrary distance from the crosswalk. It sounds like some of those 60 drivers did stop but got ticketed anyway. That shouldn't stand up in court.

All this is more evidence of the need for bulb-outs and at certain intersections, signals.In addition, one writer was quite correct that the tourists also need to be policed along Cabrillo. While they may not be familiar with our road plan, they should be familiar with basic traffic safety laws.

All of this speaks to the result of decades of stuffing 10# of sand in a 5# sack. SB has created this problem by cramming in more UCSB & City College kids, more tourists, more bars, more attractive nuisances...all at the expense of locals and the quality of life in general.

Long lines, choking traffic, hordes of cyclists & pedestrians pouring along & off sidewalks, nowhere to park, & the continual rattle and hum of frustration with the inability to get anywhere in a reasonable amount of time; all this and more describes the SB daily experience.Going there is an exercise in raised blood pressure the complete inability to accomplish even the most basic task, whether driving or walking in a normal fashion. It's always stressful, crowded and fraught with tension in & around SB.

Sadly, I must often take my father down there for his doctors' appointments, as the Sansum Juggernaut sees fit to concentrate its specialists down in the Belly of the Beast. Dad & I gird our very souls, enter the car, buckle up, & sally forth into the battle of traffic, nowhere to park, crowds, lines, long waits for everything, & harried clinic employees...then we get home as soon as possible, taking no detours along the way. It takes us literally a full day to recover from the experience.

When I'm walking somewhere, I make a point to look both ways & WAIT til it's safe to cross. I don't jump in front of cars & dare them to challenge me. Not only is that a death wish...it's rude, & SB has more than enough rudeness and self-entitlement to go around without me adding to the mess.

One of my personal pet peeves with pedestrians is when I have stopped at the four way sigh, let those ahead of me & any pedestrians go, then make my way through the intersection only to find myself in the middle of it, looking at cars stopped on either side of me, as I am forced to brake and sit to accommodate a throng of pedestrians picking that second to pour off the curb. They are usually yapping on the phone or to each other, but more often than not, they look straight at me stuck in the intersection as they do it. The law requires me to stop...even though I am now holding up traffic on the cross-street...to allow them to go on their merry way.

Meanwhile, traffic behind me & to either side of me is now stuck & piling up. The bicycles of course just whiz through the stop signs & around everyone including the pedestrians, often throwing a dirty look/obscene gesture at us all for daring to get in their way.

Until police stop looking the other way at stop sign/red light runners (including bikes) & pedestrians crossing unsafely or aggressively, the situation will worsen. More people will be injured or die. The text-&-drive/walk crowd, the rude bikers, the clueless drivers...all of these are powerful contributors to the dangerous climate in SB, & added in with the 10# of sand mentioned above, should create complete gridlock within 5 years time...or maybe less.

Good luck!

Pedestrian beware. Cars are never killed by people crossing the street. Legally, or otherwise, caveat crosseur.

So when are they going to start ticketing pedestrians for crossing on red lights?

I can only hope that the money from the tickets will be used to build more lights and a safer crosswalk on Milpas to really help eliminate another teen being killed, but most likely it will be used on another piece of useless SWAT equipment that will probably never see action.

Flog the bastard drivers, then fine them. They're empty headed
selfish creeps... and that's their good side.

How many times have I been nearly hit while trying to cross State at Anapamu, or cross Anapamu at State? I wait for the light, but right-turning drivers don't look for pedestrians, especially when they (drivers) are talking on their cell phones. I think I'll start carrying my phone camera at the ready to get the license plates of the morons who terrorize us pedestrians.

To Dinah Mason re: sidewalk bicycling:
"According to CHP, as of Jan. 1, 2010, California Vehicle Code no longer prohibits bicycles from being on the sidewalk. If the bicycle is being operated on the roadway, is it necessary to go with the direction of traffic, but a cyclist can go either direction on a sidewalk. A bicyclist must still give pedistrians the right of way. If operating on a sidewalk, cyclists have a responsibility to operate with great care and at a safe speed to avoid hazards that may present themselves (such as cars backing from driveways and pedestrians)."

I used to despise and rail against sidewalk bikers until I was in a jury pool for a case in which a bicyclist had come off from the sidewalk in Goleta and was run over by a semi. The judge informed us that it was NOT against the law for bicylists to ride on the sidewalk and we were NOT to consider that in making our verdict. I later heard that echoed from an attorney friend.
The key phrasing includes "If operating on a sidewalk, cyclists have a responsibility to operate with great care..."

@DinahMason re: lack of crosswalks

There are actually plenty of crosswalks on Cliff Drive between Loma Alta and Meigs. They are unmarked crosswalks.

Any intersection unless explicitly marked otherwise has crosswalks extending from the corners whether they are painted or not.

Too many drivers do not know this. In any case, when we are pedestrians we need to take care at all crosswalks, marked or unmarked. The paint does not protect us.