Police target speed, pedestrian right-of-way violations to slow
drivers
Speeders beware: Morgan Hill Police Officers are stepping up enforcement of speed and safe driving laws through April, including a focus on crosswalk safety in the downtown area.
“I think it’s fantastic,” Rosy Bergin of Rosy’s At the Beach restaurant said Friday. “The merchants have been crying out for this. We frequently see people speeding downtown and our customers struggling to get across the street.
“The crosswalk signs that were installed are good, but I think people get used to them, they just get in a zone where they’re just driving through town, not really thinking about pedestrians, just thinking about getting where they’re going.”
Brad Jones, co-owner of BookSmart and two other downtown shops, said he so far hasn’t seen a change in driver behavior.
“They’re not stopping for me when I’m trying to cross,” he said. “I read the state law on this, and it says drivers have to stop for pedestrians at any marked corner, not just where there are traffic lights, and that has not happened for me.”
MHPD Officer Eric Mosunic, who patrolled the downtown area this week looking for violators of the crosswalk codes, said during the time he was patrolling, he didn’t find any violators.
“It seemed as though drivers were behaving well, following the rules,” he said Friday morning.
While there are crosswalks at traffic lights at Monterey Road and Main Avenue and Monterey Road and Second Street, there are crosswalks with no traffic lights at the intersections of Monterey Road and First, Third and Fourth streets.
One citation for speeding was issued Thursday, he said. Three marked MHPD patrol cars were out enforcing the 25mph speed limit.
“The biggest problem (downtown) is definitely speeders,” Jones said. “There is almost always someone speeding, except when traffic is too heavy, and they can’t speed.”
Bergin said the ideas that have come from meetings with downtown merchants to address the speeding and crosswalk problems have included closing one lane each way through downtown, and closing the downtown to traffic all together.
“The goal was to achieve traffic calming,” she said. “This (downtown enforcement) is by far the easiest way to start … Another possibility is to change the timing of the signal lights, so they don’t change so quickly, and maybe the lights at Butterfield Boulevard, also, so they do change more quickly. Perhaps then people would think of it (Butterfield) as fast way to get through town.”
The stepped up enforcement is known as “Operation Slow Down Town,” according to MHPD Lt. Terrie Booten.
“Operation Slow Down Town is designed to ensure that people can enjoy Morgan Hill’s wonderful downtown safely,” she said.
According to Booten, the last fatal accident downtown involving a pedestrian occurred in 1998 when two people were struck and killed in the Fourth Street crosswalk during a dark and rainy evening commute.
“Although this was over six years ago, pedestrian safety remains a paramount concern,” Booten said.
William Glenn, manager of Zubow Realty downtown, said he is concerned for the safety of his clients.
“I tell them all, don’t step out into the crosswalk until the traffic has stopped,” he said. “They just fly through here. Yesterday, I saw a guy turn onto Monterey from Main Avenue, headed south, and begin accelerating. By the time he reached my office, he was doing easily 50mph. I don’t know what we have to do to get people to slow down.”
Glenn said he is very glad to hear about Operation Slow Down Town.
“I think it’s a great program,” he said. “I know when there is a police presence, there is a difference in the way people drive. I thank the police department, and I look forward to seeing officers around in the downtown.”
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. She can be reached by e-mail at md****@*************es.com or phoning (408) 779-4106 ext. 202.
