Watsonville seeks public input on traffic safety issues near schools
The City of Watsonville is taking an added step to make sure students arrive at school and back home safely, and they want the community to weigh in.
Alma Mendez grew up in Watsonvville, and she says though many things have changed, one thing has not…the bad drivers.
“It’s not the safest sometimes here. Especially around this school I’ve seen a lot of it.”
And with Watsonville having a large community of pedestrians and bikers, the scary driving habits pose a threat, especially around schools.
Sgt. Donny Thul with the Watsonville Police Department tells us speeding and distracted driving are far too common.
“A lot of the problems that we have is because these are very densely populated areas and when people are taking their children to school there’s a lot of traffic and people are in a hurry,” says Thul.
The Watsonville Public Works Department is now teaming up with the PD to create a “Safe Routes to Schools” plan for 15 schools.
They are hosting meetings to hear from parents and other concerned members of the public.
“We want our students to always be safe, that’s our priority. And it’s not just about being safe in school, it’s also important to realize that they need to be safe on their way to school and out of school, so this kind of helps us close that circle of getting to school safely,” says Alicia Jimenez with the Pajaro Valley Unified School District.
Since June 1st, there have been 6 vehicle vs pedestrian collisions. But officials say it’s not all on the drivers.
Pedestrians and bikers are at fault as well. In fact in driving around Watsonville, KION spotted a group of students j-walking through heavy traffic.
“It’s just as important for a parent at home to spend the time teaching their child how to cross a street correctly, how to ride your bicycle in the roadway and to make sure they’re wearing a bicycle helmet when they’re riding their bikes,” says Thul.
“If drivers don’t want to drive safe, that’s really nothing that you can do to make them change, you know?” asks Mendez.
There are some skeptics, but city officials are hopeful this input will help make change to save lives.
For more information on the program, click here.
