Residents in Assemblyman Paul Krekorian's district are vocalizing their roadside
safety concerns to minimize the increasing number of pedestrian-car collisions.
(Creative Commons licensed)

Assemblyman Paul Krekorian met with a small group of residents in Burbank Tuesday to discuss ideas on how to curb the deadly driving that has plagued his district, which includes the city of Glendale.  

The vociferous group offered ideas ranging from more speed bumps to improved jaywalking and speeding-law enforcement. 

"I had just had enough of the tragedies affecting my constituents and decided that it was important to address this problem of speeding in any way that we can," Krekorian said.

In late February, Krekorian introduced Assembly Bill 766, the "Safe Streets Bill," which would allow localities to set speed limits after public hearings.   Although the bill doesn't incorporate all methods of reducing speed, for cities like Glendale, it may make a huge difference.  For instance, in 2008 four people died out of 82 total pedestrian-car collisions.

Under the current system, traffic engineers examine car speeds on roads every seven years and use the majority speed to set an enforceable speed limit. This enables police to use radar enforcement on streets.  But for Glendale, the current method may prove ineffective because drivers often drive faster than the posted limit, and the roads are not statistically proven to be safer.

Under Krekorian's bill, cities could also use metrics to determine speed limits, such as pedestrian presence on the street.

Krekorian said his district is disproportionately affected by speeding and accidents. AllState Insurance Company ranked Glendale at the bottom of a "best driver" survey last month.

Some residents at the meeting were not just upset about speeding but said drivers' uncaring attitudes have contributed to the problem.

 "On urban streets, we really have to acknowledge everybody on the street, not just the driver," said Ken Johnson, a Burbank traffic engineer.

Steve Box who doesn't own a car and rides his bicycle on L.A. city roads and freeways, knows the dangers of Southern California streets well.  He has been hit by cars several times. 

"Great cities around the world offer great choices.  In L.A. you have two choices: Get in your car and suffer, or take some other route and suffer," says Box, coauthor of Cyclists' Bill of Rights.

The "Safe Streets Bill" is on hold in the Assembly Transportation Committee because committee members decided not to push the bill through for a vote.  But Krekorian said Transportation Committee Chairman Mike Eng committed to having hearings on the road safety topic. Currently, there is no set date for those hearings.