Pacific Grove sees rise in traffic collisions, citations given

Drivers beware. One Central Coast community is seeing a significant increase in crashes.

You don’t usually think of Pacific Grove as one of the more dangerous areas to be, but according to the Police Department’s Annual Report if you’re a driver, it’s a different story.

Pacific Grove is known for its gorgeous views and small-town feel, but a near 40 percent increase in traffic collisions over one year has officers hard at work.

They responded to 234 collisions in 2017.

“People may be on their cellphones, they’re distracted, they’re talking to people in the car, listening to music loud, following too closely is also an issue and also not stopping completely at stop signs,” says Commander Rory Lakind with the Pacific Grove Police Department.

The top 5 intersections for collisions are: Lighthouse and 14th, Forest and Prescott, David and Forest, Junipero and Forest, and Lighthouse and 16th.

And residents aren’t surprised to hear close to half of these collisions are happening because people aren’t signaling and turning properly, another huge chunk because of distracted driving.

“Not at all, I see it all the time. You can tell when somebody is driving looking down at their phone or ya know, you can see it,” says PG resident Karen Hewitt.

“There’s lots of people on their phone. I drive everyday and you can see 3 out of 5 on a phone,” says resident Patrick Duman.

Commander Lakind says collisions aren’t the only thing on the rise. Officers have handed out their fair share of citations.

Moving violations saw an increase of 80 percent and parking violations up 58 percent.

And with thousands of tourists coming in and out of pg on any given week, it’s almost inevitable.

“I think people are unfamiliar, you know as a tourist you’re not familiar with a certain neighborhood, we do have very small streets in town and sometimes people don’t stop,” says Lakind.

Though there were no fatalities on city of PG roadways, these stats raise a concern for not only drivers, but pedestrians.

“Many people here are also retired and have animals or have a hard time walking, so there should be more safety,” says Pia Sandstrom.

“Safety for the public is always first and foremost,” says Duman.

If you would like to see the entire report, click here.