Community group calls for new measures

By Mike Wood

Staff writer

 

 

Friday, June 28 (8:00 a.m.): A recent accident in which a pedestrian was struck by a golf cart has emboldened a push for more traffic and pedestrian safety measures within Rossmoor.

That’s particularly true for those with the community organization Neighbors for Safer Streets, and its founder, Lynn Carruthers.

Carruthers happened to drive upon the scene in the aftermath of the mid-morning accident on June 1. She noticed a female resident, who had been walking her dog along a Tice Creek Drive crosswalk at Stanley Dollar Drive, being attended by emergency personnel after a golf cart struck her while making a left-hand turn. The woman was hospitalized with numerous fractures to the left side of her body. Her husband said that while she has improved a bit, she will remain in a rehabilitation facility for an undetermined amount of time.

After stopping and parking her car, Carruthers noticed a pedestrian flag that had been set on the roadway to mark where impact occurred. She also saw that a neighbor was watching the woman’s dog.

The incident has been a catalyst to “make some noise and make some change,” Carruthers said. “It’s definitely a motivator to pick up the orange flag and get going again.”

Those orange crosswalk flags have been helpful and are being utilized more frequently, and Carruthers said she would like to see more of them. But that is only one part of any solution.

What is highest on Carruthers’ radar is a proposed community-wide traffic safety study, which was last done here in 2016. It’s what Public Safety Manager Tom Cashion has been pushing for since presenting it to the GRF Board in January.

Carruthers said she will be at the Thursday, June 27 GRF Board meeting and is working to galvanize support in that push, particularly from members of Rossmoor clubs that have a member impacted by a vehicle-vs.-pedestrian accident. She said she’s heard from people who know the woman injured by the golf cart.

Neighbors for Safer Streets arose following three serious vehicle-vs.-pedestrian accidents along Tice Creek Drive in spring 2022. One of those resulted in the death of resident Curtis Gunn and injuries to his wife, Laurelyn. Another injured resident Tony Conte, and a third injured Carruthers’ friend, Becky Smith.

Neighbors for Safer Streets’ efforts have made an impact, particularly in the approval and implementation of the sweeping Tice Creek Pedestrian Safety Project. There are about 350 people on the organization’s mailing list, demonstrating its broad scope.

“The reason this whole thing started was because Becky Smith was hit,” Carruthers said. “I thought, hardly anybody knew Becky Smith, but we got something done. Now, we know people who know this woman,” in reference to the June 1 accident.

Cashion said Neighbors’ impact has been “huge,” notably in the education portion of the “three Es” of traffic safety, which also include engineering and enforcement.

“I can’t thank them enough for their interest and their passion to make Rossmoor a safer community,” he said.

The proposed study, called the Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Study, has an estimated cost of $60,000. With money tightening for capital expenditures, how the study would be paid for has not yet been determined. Cashion again pitched the proposal at May’s Planning Committee meeting.

“I’m hoping this renews the effort, because the study is so important,” Cashion said.

This study would be a collaboration among the GRF, Walnut Creek’s city engineer and its police department, along with the input of residents.

Traffic engineers would evaluate all Rossmoor streets, including critical areas such as intersections and entry driveways; ensure that there’s compliance with current laws; and identity areas for improvement. The study would also encompass street designs, signage and road markings, speed, and accommodations for pedestrians.

Since the last study, new technology and devices to enhance traffic safety have emerged, Cashion said.

One concept that Cashion mentioned is bulbouts, or curb extensions, which extend the sidewalk at a crosswalk, increasing visibility for pedestrians while shortening the length for them to cross a street. By narrowing the roadway, it can prompt vehicles to slow down.

“If you decrease the distance, you increase the safety,” Cashion said.

The 2016 study showed that Tice Creek had the third-highest recorded speeds after Rossmoor Parkway and Golden Rain Road; it had the second-highest number of accidents but had the most injury accidents.

The number of vehicle accidents in Rossmoor so far in 2024 is typical of recent years, Cashion said. As of June 17, there have been 13 roadway non-injury accidents, plus four with injuries. There have been 24 non-injury accidents within entries or Mutual parking lots, and one more in those areas that resulted in an injury.

“Any vehicle that enters a roadway, all traffic laws apply to them,” Cashion said. “They shall yield to pedestrians, they shall stop at all stop signs, and they shall drive within 25 mph.”

Carruthers wants to push for larger, more visible golf cart registration stickers, to aid in accountability. She hears a lot of feedback on recent safety enhancements.

“There are the people who believe that stop signs are the end all, the be all,” Carruthers said. “There are the people that love the radar readers. And there are other people that find them offensive because they’re blinking at them.

“I think they’re all effective, and Tom’s right; they have to be together,” Carruthers added. “It has to be a combo. No one thing’s going to stop people here.”

Cashion said radar readers and flashing crosswalk signs have the biggest impact of the newer additions, because they prompt higher visibility and refocus attention. Given that Rossmoor’s average age is 78, he said, “We should look at enhancements for senior drivers and senior pedestrians,” noting how vision lessens with age, and recovery time and fatality rates from accidents go up.

“Another reason why the study is so important is that seniors are susceptible to having longer and more severe injuries than the general public, so we have to do what we can to support them,” Cashion said.