Editor,
Your front page article, “Tragedy Sparks Safe Street Crusade” was excellent. As a homeowner along Monterey Drive in the North Laguna “tree streets” we walk our dogs and tend our gardens while doing so in the lane carved out on the right side of the street. No parking is allowed there and there are no sidewalks. Stop signs are clearly posted. Today, Sunday, July 6, I was almost hit by a cyclist who was talking to his fellow cyclist as he was riding on Monterey Drive. I was tending my garden. He said to his friend, I almost did not see her. This happens quite frequently on Monterey Drive.
Although the bike lanes are clearly marked on High Drive (not Monterey), cyclists who desire an easier ride use Monterey instead. My neighbors and I have witnessed that there is no observance of stop signs by cyclists on Monterey Drive nor at the intersection of High and Monterey. Cyclists fly down High Drive past the stop sign at the Monterey intersection where I walk my dogs. Dog walkers in the area need to be ever vigilant for speeding bikers, at times twenty of them, racing down High Drive as we make our way across High over to Hillcrest Street. Here in this quiet pedestrian neighborhood, cars are not the culprits. Cyclists are not obeying street signs that say stop. Pedestrians are in harm’s way.
I would like to see the laws enforced so that bike riders observe our traffic signs. It would sure make walking and driving in the tree streets safer and more enjoyable. As a homeowner since 1998, the neighborhood is less safe for pedestrians with the amount of bicycle traffic we have on our streets. Thank you for listening.
Margaret Baldwin,
Laguna Beach
[…] Source […]