Reader asks for creative solutions to prevent accidents
Q There were several singlecar accidents on Highway 17 Saturday morning. Can we post names of drivers on an electronic billboard and let folks know their name will be up in lights? Gotta change the rules if we want to have a meaningful reduction in safety issues. Just adding more CHP patrols is not working.
Help, please. We need some creative, unconventional ideas to stop this. Too many road racers. We need cameras, enormous fines for those who create this daily mess for thousands of people, hourly escorts. I am wasting my life because some idiot crashes. — Steve Burke, Santa Cruz A The message boards would not have space to list all the responsible drivers. Crashes have been on the rise, so take it slow in the rain, stay off the cellphone and keep your eyes on traffic down the road. Don’t fixate on the rear of the car ahead. Q The lights on Homestead Road from Belleville Way and Maxine Avenue in Sunnyvale before West Valley Elementary are not synchronized. This causes a huge traffic snake as one signal turns green and other turns red, making it impossible to get to the school. Any thoughts on how to solve this will be helpful. — Vasanth Shenai, Sunnyvale A Sunnyvale retimed the signals along Homestead Road from Belleville Way to Hollenbeck Avenue last year. Most intersections on this corridor experience heavy pedestrian and vehicular volumes during peak hours, so the signals are timed to operate based on traffic demand and to allow ample time for pedestrians to safely cross.
Signals at Homestead and Belleville and Homestead and Maxine Avenue are coordinated; however, the signal at Maxine is under Caltrans jurisdiction and requires frequent adjustments to keep it synchronized with the rest of the signals in this area. Anything else? Q There is a very long signal at Homestead and Mary Avenue during the day, yet there is very little traffic to Homestead High School or Mary turning left in either direction. Since lights are not synchronized, there’s another long wait that causes another traffic snake here. — Vasanth Shenai A Finally, better news. Sunnyvale will upgrade the intersections at Mary Avenue and Kennewick Drive by the end of 2019. This will update pedestrian and bike detection equipment, install green bike lanes, high visibility crosswalks and improve signal timing. Contact the city with traffic-related inquiries at bit.ly/2zJ3RdF. Q Since you have both a boy and a girl driving, who is the better driver? — Mark Sherman A You crazy? I’m not touching this one. Both my kids are pretty good drivers. but Annethe-Roadshow-Daughter preferred to have Mrs. Roadshow train her. Matt-the-Roadshow-Son preferred me (I think).