Public safety a concern as Car Week close to starting in Monterey

Dozens of classic cars are getting set to line several venues across the Monterey Peninsula for Car Week.

Wednesday’s press conference addressed a number of concerns, including traffic, but with a large amount of high-priced property parked in the peninsula, along with hundreds of visitors, public safety was also a concern.

“It’s first on everyone’s mind that safety is what we’re really concerned about. Whether it’s traffic or any other incidents that take place during car week,” says Mary Adams–District 5 Supervisor for Monterey County. “We want to make sure that the people who live here as well as the people who are visiting are safe and have a great time.”

Concerned residents spoke at the conference about the high traffic during Car Week and how it impacts the ability of first responder’s to get to the scene of an emergency.

Several law enforcement agencies were on hand to address those concerns.

Fire Captain John Spooner with CalFire shared his experience back in 2016 trying to answer the call to put out the huge Soberanes fire while maneuvering through large Car Week crowds.

“We weren’t just dealing with vehicles from different venues at auto week we were also dealing with major amounts of fire equipment traffic,” Spooner says.

It took communicating with several car week venues to allow fire trucks to roll out of Monterey to assist with the fire.

Communication of which continues as Car Week nears should something disastrous happen at any of this year’s venues.

A mobile app is also available to make reports and keep tabs on traffic in Monterey County during Car Week.

You can find the app at this link provided here. You can also use the County’s website if you are not on a mobile device.