Police issue 85 tickets to motorists in crackdown
Obeying the speed limit and giving pedestrians the right of way will make downtown Morgan Hill a safer place for people to shop and do business, business owners and police officers believe.
With that in mind, Morgan Hill Police have focused on beefing up enforcement along Monterey Road since mid-March.
Businesses owners and residents have long complained about speeders in the downtown area, which has a 25 mph speed limit. During the period between March 14 and April 14, MHPD officers issued 85 citations in that area.
“Most of those are primarily speed-related,” MHPD Lt. Joe Sampson said Monday.
A marked car has been stationed at various locations downtown most often during morning commute hours, sometimes pulling over as many four cars in an hour. The traffic crackdown is to continue through the end of the month.
The city completed a restriping project last week, making each of the four lanes through downtown more narrow in an attempt to slow motorists.
The 85 citations are result of 50 total officer hours and a total overtime cost of $3,174. Police have also been watching for drivers who violate crosswalk and pedestrian laws. Of the six downtown crosswalks on Monterey Road, from Main Avenue south to Fourth Street, the ones at Fourth, Third and First Streets are without accompanying traffic signals, which can lead drivers to ignore them.
The city installed florescent signs at the crosswalks, hoping to make them more noticeable, but downtown business owners, downtown patrons and police officers say people don’t always stop for pedestrians. One of the more dangerous situations for pedestrians occurs when a vehicle in one lane stops for a pedestrian to cross, but a vehicle approaching the crosswalk in the other lane does not stop.
“I hope with the added enforcement, we are bringing this to the public’s attention,” MHPD Lt. Terrie Booten said. “We ask anyone traveling through the downtown area to be aware of their speed, realize that 25mph is slower than you think, and be very aware of pedestrians in the area.
“By doing something as simple as paying attention, slowing down, they can avert potential tragedies, besides making the downtown a nicer place to visit.”
Booten said she hopes that the community will continue to pay particular attention to their speed and their surroundings after the enforcement ends.
“You can look at it as a kind of training,” she said. “The idea is that the effects of the training, the awareness, continues. If people do not think about the potential for danger, both to themselves and to others, when they ignore the speed limit and right of way for pedestrians, perhaps they will think about the possibility for citations. Even though the increased enforcement will end, our officers on patrol will continue to patrol that area, as well as the rest of the city.”
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
