An eye-opening, one-car accident that left a Toyota on its side has gotten neighbors talking about traffic safety and ways to curb travelers making time on residential Glorietta Boulevard in Orinda.
On Monday, a motorist was uninjured other than blacking out and not remembering how his car came to rest on its side in a bush, alongside a hydrant at Glorietta and Parkway Court, near Glorietta Elementary School. (More about the accident below in the story.)
In recent months in the area, Orinda police have put a speed trailer, flashing electronic readouts on vehicle speeds.
"I've had so many people say that has really helped them realize how fast they are going and slow down (it has helped me too)," wrote resident Wendy Bond in an email. "I'd like to see more enforcement of the speed limit (it's very rare to see any ticketing) and some sort of walkway using curbs or a physical barrier to make it safer for pedestrians and bicyclists."
Neighbor Kris Foss wrote in an email: "Lots of kids walk and bike on this road (including mine) and that, combined with the traffic and lack of some sort of curb or barrier, has always been a source of anxiety to me! A curb or fence clearly wouldn't restrain a car in an accident such as this but I believe that a physical barrier would help drivers be more aware and cautious of pedestrians and bikers when driving on this road."
Monday's crash
In Monday's accident, the Toyota Corolla apparently caught its right wheel in a deep gutter, upending the car, said Diane Eames, who heard the crash and ran outside immediately. The driver crawled out through the back window, which was knocked out in the crash, said Eames. The paramedics checked the man but he did not leave in the ambulance, she said. It was hard to talk with the man, who spoke Farsi, Eames said.
"This could have been a much worse scenario given the kids were let out of school about 10 minutes prior and walking in front of my house," wrote Eames in an email. "My kids had just come in from playing in the front yard."
The driver spoke broken English, said Orinda Police Sgt. Mohammad Djajakusuma, and was able to communicate to officers that he had no recollection of how he went off the boulevard.
The speed limit is 15 mph during posted school hours within a couple of hundred feet of the school, and otherwise 25 mph.
The Orinda City Council on Oct. 4, 2011, considered raising the speed limit from 25 to 30 mph in the area, which (some say paradoxically) would allow the police to do radar enforcement, reported City Engineer Janice Carey. At the lower speed limit, the discrepancy between a 25 mph maximum and a traffic survey's results of the 85th percentile having motorists going 36 or 37 mph would amount to entrapment legally because the speeds motorists are customarily driving are so far above the posted limit, Djajakusuma said. That's why police have used the speed trailer to alert motorists.
In a long council discussion Oct. 4, 2011, the council discussed results of a traffic survey and enforcement limitations. In the school zone, Police Chief Jeff Jennings reported, there were three accident reports in 2011 and seven in 2010. The council did not raise the speed limit at that time.
"Subsequently, after effective community outreach and education to slow the neighborhood traffic, another Engineering and Traffic Survey was conducted along the same segment of Glorietta Boulevard in May 2012," wrote Carey in an email. "The results of the study validated a 25 mph. speed limit on Glorietta Boulevard between Rheem Boulevard and the Lafayette city limit, except within the school zone where it is 15 mph. The study allows for radar enforcement by the Police Department. This Engineering and Traffic Survey remains valid for a five year period."
The discrepancy remains to curb use of radar enforcement on Glorietta between Rheem and Moraga Way, Djajakusuma said, but the enforcement is allowed on Glorietta from Rheem to the Lafayette city line, which includes the stretch by Glorietta Elementary School.
Peolpe who buy homes on connector streets know what they were signing up for. The street is designed as a through route for the whole area.
"At the lower speed limit, the discrepancy between a 25 mph maximum and a traffic survey's results of the 85th percentile having motorists going 36 or 37 mph would amount to entrapment legally because the speeds motorists are customarily driving are so far above the posted limit, Djajakusuma said."
Even with a kid down in the street and two stopped cars and 5 adults in the street attending to the child - I had two cars swerve through without slowing down and one person gave us the bird!!!!!!!!! She lives right around the corner we all know who she is!!! DUMB ASS!!!!!!!!!!!! The lack of respect for your fellow neighbors and kids even your own given said second speeding car happened to be the mother of the child who was hit!!! Like I said DUMB ASSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!! SLOW DOWN!!!!!!
Glorietta is officially designated as a "Minor Arterial,' not a residential street. If I lived on Glorietta, I would be arguing for a lower speed limit, etc. (maybe a series of speed bumps and chicanes so my kids could play in the street). This would be especially if the price I paid for my home reflected a discount because it is on a ARTERIAL road and NOT a residential road....
If 85% of people drive faster than 25MPH, you generally can't set the limit to 25MPH. Here's where the conspiracy comes in. The radar speed indicator and the intense efforts to temporarily reduce ACTUAL speeds is to provide a "gamed" basis for keeping the official limit well below the objectively reasonable speed.
It does seem that if everyone is going 35 in a 25, but essentially can't be cited, that allowing the speed limit to go to 30 with strict enforcement so that those going 35 can be ticketed is a logical solution. Would the residents give up an ignored de jure 25 to get a de facto 30? How much faster than 25 mph is 30 mph? I don't think it is the difference between strolling and the Indy 500. And thanks for the offer, Bailey, but unfortunately I don't have the resources to fund any improvements along the boulevard. But with so many Moraga residents driving it, perhaps Moraga can kick in for the funding? Maybe they can use some of that money they are saving by not funding their fair share of MOFD ;).
The reality is that most people don't pay close attention to local speed limits and drive at what "feels" safe/reasonable to them (and a small minority will drive as recklessly as they always do). Apart from strict and continuous enforcement, those driving 35mph won't slow to 30mph if the signs change. Similarly, those driving 55mph aren't going to slow to 50mph to maintain a fixed delta from the posted limit. That's just not how humans behave. Oddly, I think the status quo of unenforceable 25MPH signs is a decent equilibrium.
Glorietta has houses facing it with short driveways no- sidewalks etc. Residents live on the street. Meaning its a residential street and yes people are out and about walking playing etc in close proximity to the street. As such the conditions would suggest that 25mpg which is the standard residential neighborhood speed limit. As I said regardless of posted speeds you cant fix stupid.... Stupid people will drive too fast for conditions ie kids playing people walking on the shoulder of the road etc which case they deserve to get stoned - publicly outed etc. Even with a speed trailer parked on my street all it does is provide another potential target for the speeders to hit. I've stopped one neighbor who several of us have all noted as speeding by 2 times in the morning - 2 times in the afternoon every day. I stopped her mid street - introduced my self as her neighbor that we hadn't met yet - then confirmed with her that she did live on street bla bla - to her shock that I knew where she lived. Then explained to her that she drives too fast and she needs to slow down. She started to protest that comment when I explained that I had sat on the curb 10 minutes prior watching the speed trailer clock her at 37mph in a a 25mph zone. She shut up and I waved her on. She has since slowed down but still speeds when she doesn't think anyone is looking.
"Neighbor Kris Foss wrote in an email: "Lots of kids walk and bike on this road (including mine) and that, combined with the traffic and lack of some sort of curb or barrier, has always been a source of anxiety to me! A curb or fence clearly wouldn't restrain a car in an accident such as this but I believe that a physical barrier would help drivers be more aware and cautious of pedestrians and bikers when driving on this road." I notice that Orinda recently installed curbs on the side of Moraga Way near Miramonte. Perhaps they'll expand that to your street.