By ERIK CHALHOUB
Recently, I was driving on South Green Valley Road near the Kralj Drive intersection, when I noticed a bicyclist about two car-lengths ahead of me cruising along in the bike lane.
With one hand on the handlebars, the cyclist was using his free hand to text someone on his phone. This meant his eyes were looking down, engrossed in whatever conversation he was having on the five-inch screen, seemingly oblivious of the constant barrage of vehicles passing him at 45 mph or more mere feet beside him.
About 50 feet ahead of him was an electronic sign warning of road work on nearby Pennsylvania Drive. The sign was blocking the bike lane.
At this point, the cyclist was slightly ahead of the car in front of me, still looking down at his phone. The driver in front of me, perhaps anticipating what was coming next, braked to increase the distance between them and the cyclist.
Then, only inches away from the sign, the cyclist swerved into traffic to avoid the sign, and swerved back into the bike lane, all while looking down at his phone. Not once did he turn his head to see if the lane beside him was clear for such a maneuver.
Days later, I was driving home at night, also on South Green Valley Road. As I approached the intersection near Home Depot, I noticed the traffic light was green, yet every vehicle was stopped on both sides of the road.
I slowed down to a gradual stop out of caution. Had there been no other vehicles around, I don’t think I would’ve saw the shadowy figure of a person, dressed completely in black, who was crossing the intersection despite the green light for vehicles and red stop light for pedestrians.
Sadly, these two incidents are common in Watsonville, and many don’t have such a harmless ending.
Reports seem to be weekly of traffic incidents involving pedestrians. Late last month, a woman was airlifted to a trauma center after being hit by a vehicle on Clifford Avenue at Freedom Boulevard in the morning. She was reportedly not using the crosswalk.
It’s no secret that Watsonville was ranked first in the number of pedestrians injured or killed among similar sized cities in the state, according to a 2015 study by the California Office of Traffic Safety. That number likely hasn’t changed in the three years since.
The city has received grants from the state to step up enforcement of traffic scofflaws, which have proved fruitful. In the last year, police issued more than 2,000 traffic violations, which officers used as an educational experience for drivers, Watsonville Police reported during a presentation in October.
Watsonville is also receiving funds from state and local taxes, which is being used for road infrastructure improvements.
But this is a problem you can’t build your way out of. Just a few months after crews wrapped up a project on Airport Boulevard between Freedom Boulevard and Pajaro Lane, which added new sidewalks and striping, a man was struck as he was crossing the road, later succumbing to his injuries.
For any of these incidents, one side is not at fault on their own. It’s up to the driver to exercise caution when approaching intersections or crosswalks, and it’s up to the pedestrian to not only use designated crossing areas, but to make sure the drivers see them and stop as well.
Education, and not just infrastructure, is the key to our safety on the road.
•••
Erik Chalhoub can be reached at 761-7353 or [email protected].
