A vehicle fails to stop for a pedestrian with a child at a crosswalk at Riverview Drive at Heights Elementary School in Pittsburg, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 20, 2023. Pittsburg has received a Safe Routes to School grant, which will pay for the installation of five reflecting flashing beacons with LED lights at five school crosswalks, including two at Heights Elementary School, and one each at Pittsburg High, Highlands Elementary and St. Peter Martyr School. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
Q: I have a few gripes.
1. According to the California driver’s manual, cars must have a front license plate. Occasionally I keep count and about 10% of cars do not have a front plate. It goes up to about 15% in Los Altos. It’s more than 60% for Teslas.
2. For cars with a rear bicycle rack that hides the rear license plate: If they also lack a front license plate, they’re immune to bridge tolls.
3. Some intersections have pedestrian crossing signals with three red lights that cycle when a pedestrian pushes a button to cross. When no pedestrian is crossing, all three lights are out, making it indistinguishable from an inoperative signal. But the California driver’s manual says that if a traffic signal is not operating, it should be interpreted as requiring a full stop.
Dave Grossman, Palo Alto
A: The stats you provide about no front plates are higher than I expected. And you’re correct that intersections where lights are not operating require a full stop.
Q: Last July, after almost being hit by a car while going across Shoreline Boulevard at Terra Bella in Mountain View, I thought of a solution to keep pedestrians safer in that crosswalk. On other occasions, I’d seen teenagers running across that intersection, racing to avoid oncoming cars.
I knew I’d have to approach the Public Works Department, my least favorite city department, based on bad experiences in another city, and Transportation, my least favorite department in that division.
I asked for a 10-minute appointment with Mountain View Transportation’s Lorenzo Lopez to describe the problem and my solution, preparing to be ignored. To avoid subsequent frustration, my Plan B was to go to the City Attorney’s office, putting the city on notice about the danger there.
But what a surprise! My bad attitude was abated when Lorenzo spent one solid hour with me, listening to what I described, even taking notes. He said my solution – giving pedestrians at that corner a few seconds’ head start before cars got the green light – was possible, and he’d have his staff look into making it happen, and then he did!
In only eight weeks, thanks to Lorenzo and his whole staff, teenagers won’t have to run across that street anymore, and pedestrians are much safer.
Lorenzo Lopez and his whole staff are worth their weight in gold. I am so glad to have been wrong!
R.J. Devincenzi, Mountain View
A: Thanks for sharing this story. You and Lorenzo Lopez and his team may well have saved pedestrians from injury or worse at this intersection.
October is National Pedestrian Safety Month. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) provides pedestrian safety advice on its website.
Look for Gary Richards at facebook.com/mr.roadshow or contact him at mrroadshow@bayareanewsgroup.com.
Originally published at Gary Richards