Nice weather and holiday weekend brings a lot of tourists to Big Sur, raising safety concerns along Highway 1
Along our scenic coastline, there’s a lot to see, including tourists taking selfies. It’s a safety concern for agencies patrolling along Big Sur. The beautiful weather this past weekend has brought a lot of tourists to down to Big Sur.
“Between the blue skies, the green grass and the blue ocean, it’s just, it’s almost, it’s overwhelming,” said Nancy Vanscoy who is visiting from New Hampshire.
Holiday weekends typically bring big crowds to the state parks.
“If you drive down here you’ll notice all the cars parked up and down the highway. It’s more so than usual this time of year, for sure,” said Matthew Khalar, Supervisor Ranger with California State Parks.
A lot of people equals a lot of traffic and brake lights on Highway 1. The spectacular views that come along with the coastal highway are also a terrible distraction for drivers.
“It’s pretty apparent, you know people are going like 20 mile per hour, not really paying attention,” said Rizalia Sappington, a Carmel Highlands resident.
“I’m glad I’m not driving, because I couldn’t help but just stare. I’m just staring off, it’s just gorgeous looking over the ocean,” said Daniel Cho from Los Angeles.
The winding Highway 1 is not the best road to be distracted on. According to Park Rangers, everyone needs to take it easy and drive carefully, whether there’s traffic or not.
“Anytime there’s cars parked on the road, there’s people walking into traffic. It creates hazards for just about everybody out there. It’s dangerous for the drivers, it’s dangerous for the pedestrians,” said Khalar.
Tickets and citations are usually given out more frequently by Park Rangers on busy days.
“Biggest concern we have for parking in Big Sur, people park over the white lines into traffic. So we aggressively ticket those vehicles when we see them,” said Khalar.
Rangers also keep a look out for hikers that are new to Big Sur, as dehydration becomes another big issue.
