PACIFIC BEACH – Two recent hit-and-run deaths in Pacific Beach — one a 6-year-old child and the other a beloved restaurant general manager — are intensifying calls for action to prevent vehicle violence by outraged residents, along with cycling and public-safety advocates.
“Crashes are preventable, and behind every crash is a person with a family and a story that was cut too short,” said Laura Keenan, co-founder of nonprofit Families for Safe Streets San Diego, which she started four years ago after her husband Matt was killed in a head-on vehicle collision in a protected bike lane.
“We have the tools and knowledge to prevent crashes. We just need the political will,” she said.
Matt Keenan was riding, with a helmet on, in the bike lane on Camino Del Rio South when a wrong-way driver crossed into his lane. The vehicle struck him while going at least 35 miles an hour.
Keenan died at the scene.
“I found out the next morning and had to get our 15-month-old out of bed and tell him his dad was never coming home again,” said Laura Keenan.
“Statistics show that if she was traveling just 5 miles per hour slower, or had there been a protected bike lane to slow the driver down upon impact, or if the street was less straight to prevent drivers from going deadly speeds, that Matt would likely be alive today.”
“In a span of just three weeks, we lost two lives to fatal hit-and-run crashes,” said San Diego City Councilman Joe LaCava, who represents Pacific Beach. “We carry Qwente Bryant, Hudson O’Loughlin, and their loved ones in our hearts.”
LaCava added that his office is working with the mayor on a “comprehensive speed management plan” in Pacific Beach, including speed reductions on both Pacific Beach Dr. and Garnet Avenue.
“Improving safety for pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers is paramount, as is slowing down, staying alert, and driving with care,” LaCava said.
The San Diego City Council’s infrastructure committee also recently took action on the subject, approving lower speed limits on about one-fifth of city streets — 680 miles — in an effort to make vehicle crashes less frequent and and less lethal. Those lower speed limits are called for in a long-awaited speed management plan prioritizing safety near schools, in business districts, and at intersections deemed dangerous.
The plan calls for reducing speed limits on more than 1,500 stretches of San Diego roadways to make them less deadly for pedestrians and cyclists, while also giving drivers more reaction time in dangerous situations.
Also, a 2022 state law, AB 43, gives cities much broader discretion in reducing speed limits if they complete a thorough analysis, such as the city’s 135-page speed management plan.
“There are so many examples of smart, easy infrastructure that protect pedestrians and cyclists and slow down drivers,” said Jessica Sportelli, president of nonprofit BeautifulPB.
“We know reckless driving is a major issue because we see it daily… running stop signs and traffic signals, excessive speeding, distracted driving, and other aggressive behaviors on the road are rampant because there is inadequate traffic-calming infrastructure and enforcement PB residents cannot enforce traffic laws, cannot install better crosswalks, and cannot change the speed-limit signs.
“Only our city leaders can do these things, and they must do them now,” she added.
Roadways designed to address speed rather than safety are a major contributing factor to vehicle violence, said Chloé Lauer, executive director of the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition, promoting safe biking through education.
“The main factor is speed, which has been shown to have a profound effect,” Lauer said of one of the root causes of traffic-related deaths to cyclists and pedestrians.
Historically, traffic engineering has focused on moving cars quickly, not safely.
“We know, now, that more cars going faster results in greater fatalities to pedestrians and cyclists on our streets. Obviously, moving cars faster isn’t the best way to go about keeping people safe,” Lauer said. “Our traffic engineering should be focusing on safety rather than speed.”
Aria Grossman, policy manager at Circulate San Diego, an organization dedicated to advancing mobility, cited Vision Zero as another possible answer to making public streets safer for everyone.
Vision Zero is a strategy to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries It calls for system designers and policymakers to improve the roadway environment via policies, such as speed management, and other related systems, to lessen the severity of crashes.
“We need to be making improvements to our road safety infrastructure,” said Grossman. “That would seem to be a no-brainer, that we shouldn’t be doing things retroactively after something tragic happens.
“We really need to be doing things to prevent the tragedies from happening.”
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