Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Good news! A speeding ticket ...
3:30 p.m. The sheriff doing their job: a woman in a gray Audi sedan is pulled over southbound on Crown Valley Speedway, south of Niguel Road, for driving too fast, and using her cell phone.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Another speeding, noisy motorcycle
5:52 p.m. Motorcycle southbound on Crown Valley Speedway at National Park Drive, exceeding +65 mph and violating the state noise ordinance.
5:55 p.m. Another one, same location.
6:02 p.m. And yet, another one.
6:15 p.m. This time, northbound.
Irritating and dangerous.
5:55 p.m. Another one, same location.
6:02 p.m. And yet, another one.
6:15 p.m. This time, northbound.
Irritating and dangerous.
Man honking because I was driving the speed limit on Crown Valley Speedway
10:40 a.m. While driving north on Crown Valley Speedway, south of Golden Lantern Speedway, in the middle lane, I'm at the speed limit of 45 mph, a man in his white Jaguar races up behind me, starts honking, then raises both hands off the wheel to let me know how foolish I am for driving the speed limit. Sorry sir, but the lanes are clear beside me, so just go around me and continue speeding, which he did once we got to Golden Lantern Speedway. He changed lanes without signaling and quickly sped off at well over 60 mph. He must live a frustrating life.
On the phone and drifting and littering in a silver Toyota
10:20 a.m. A young girl in a silver Toyota, having difficulty staying in her lane, driving +55 mph, with her phone to her head, south on Alicia Speedway between Clipper and Niguel Road. Also, she littered a cigarette butt. That means, for a moment, she was driving with no hands: one for the phone, one for throwing litter out her window. That's classy.
Racing black Honda on Golden Lantern Speedway
11:59 p.m.: Zooming south past Crystal Cay on Golden Lantern Speedway, a racing black Honda, +70 mph and a violation of traffic noise ordinance.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Woman runs over planter at Farmer's Market while on cell phone
A woman, in a hugely oversized white SUV, with her phone to her ear, pulls into the parking lot of the Farmer's Market on La Paz Road, but she can't control the steering wheel to make the 90-degree turn with only one hand (since the other hand is holding her phone) so her grip slips off the steering wheel and she runs over the curb, across the plantings next to FedEx and Union Bank. She keeps driving to her coveted parking spot.
Just so you know, we don't post sheriff traffic reports; we're posting the things we see and hear in Laguna Niguel. Drivers do their damage, shrug as if it's not their fault, then drive off—no cops involved. That behavior is really common here. I hope the city and the sheriff department understand that we are helping them do their job—we are your eyes and ears on the street.
Just so you know, we don't post sheriff traffic reports; we're posting the things we see and hear in Laguna Niguel. Drivers do their damage, shrug as if it's not their fault, then drive off—no cops involved. That behavior is really common here. I hope the city and the sheriff department understand that we are helping them do their job—we are your eyes and ears on the street.
Car jumps the curb on Clubhouse Drive, flattens street sign
A speeding car heading east on Clubhouse Drive, at the El Niguel Country Club, missed the curve, cut across the opposing lane, jumped the curb, flattened the street sign, and plowed across the sidewalk. Fortunately: no one was on the sidewalk or in the bike lane at the time or they would have been killed. Check out the skid marks and tire marks on the curb. The grass was beat up, too. Also, check out the trees in that area of Clubhouse Drive; the trunks are damaged from speeding cars that have jumped the curbs over the years: a visual history of abuse.
The posted speed limit is 35 mph, with a safety warning limit at the top of the hill at 25 mph, but people drive +45 mph on Clubhouse Drive all the time. The constant squealing tires as they round out at the bottom of the hill is a clue. Tip: do not walk or ride your bike on the north side of Clubhouse Drive between Crown Valley and Niguel Road. It's extraordinarily risky there. Cars hit the curb regularly, crossing the bike lane, and jump on the sidewalk occasionally.
The posted speed limit is 35 mph, with a safety warning limit at the top of the hill at 25 mph, but people drive +45 mph on Clubhouse Drive all the time. The constant squealing tires as they round out at the bottom of the hill is a clue. Tip: do not walk or ride your bike on the north side of Clubhouse Drive between Crown Valley and Niguel Road. It's extraordinarily risky there. Cars hit the curb regularly, crossing the bike lane, and jump on the sidewalk occasionally.
A racing motorcycle, Crown Valley and Hillhurst
10:15 p.m. Blasting past the new city hall, a motorcycle going 80 mph, and loud as heck. I hope city officials can open their office windows to hear what we all have to hear all day and night.
I was hit by two cars today on my bike
Once again, first-hand experience proves that the streets of Laguna Niguel are clearly not as safe as the city wants us to believe. Despite hiding behind traffic statistics about how safe the streets are here, real-life shows us that things are not as safe here as touted in the official binder of statistical data that the city uses to CYA. Any of us good drivers have to be inordinately defensive on the roads here in order to avoid accidents.
Today I was hit on my bike by a car turning right, as I entered a crosswalk at Niguel Road and Marina Hills Drive. I had a walk-signal on the crosswalk, but the driver and his wife did not stop at their red light. It was only a tire bump on my bike, so I wasn't hurt, but got back onto the sidewalk, pressed the crosswalk button again, waited for my "walk" signal, crossed the street again, and then got hit by a car turning left on the light, the driver zoomed across the crosswalk while I had the right-away on the crosswalk signal. Again, a tire bump, but he, like the other driver, looked at me and just sped away.
The city manager, staff, and council members need to get out of their offices, where they sit around defending any accusations that the roads here are not pleasant and safe. I suggest they get on their bikes or walk the streets (or simply drive the speed limit) and see what life on the speedways is really like here. It's a too-wide, too-many-lanes, senseless network of outdated 1970s and 80s-style traffic planning made for speed, with plenty of self-obsessed drivers who are inconsiderate of each other, running lights and stop signs, holding their phones to their ears, who have no common respect for the law or their neighbors. C'mon, Laguna Niguel, it's time you start enforcing the existing noise and traffic laws.
And because I was hit by cars twice today in three minutes, I've finally started this blog with a consortium of fellow residents throughout the city. The important issues that are addressed in this blog have been part of our discussions for years, around the dinner table, at local events, and at neighborhood gatherings. We should have brought this to the forefront much sooner. But we think it's about time that the concerned residents of this city document the ongoing problems that the city staff and politicians are not adequately addressing through proactive management, enforcement, and positive planning and traffic changes that could make this city friendlier, safer, more convenient–and quieter–for drivers, cyclists, pedestrians, and residents.
As always, a ridiculous, but inspiring, day on the roads here. And I have the bruises to prove it. And we all have this blog to make change happen.
Today I was hit on my bike by a car turning right, as I entered a crosswalk at Niguel Road and Marina Hills Drive. I had a walk-signal on the crosswalk, but the driver and his wife did not stop at their red light. It was only a tire bump on my bike, so I wasn't hurt, but got back onto the sidewalk, pressed the crosswalk button again, waited for my "walk" signal, crossed the street again, and then got hit by a car turning left on the light, the driver zoomed across the crosswalk while I had the right-away on the crosswalk signal. Again, a tire bump, but he, like the other driver, looked at me and just sped away.
The city manager, staff, and council members need to get out of their offices, where they sit around defending any accusations that the roads here are not pleasant and safe. I suggest they get on their bikes or walk the streets (or simply drive the speed limit) and see what life on the speedways is really like here. It's a too-wide, too-many-lanes, senseless network of outdated 1970s and 80s-style traffic planning made for speed, with plenty of self-obsessed drivers who are inconsiderate of each other, running lights and stop signs, holding their phones to their ears, who have no common respect for the law or their neighbors. C'mon, Laguna Niguel, it's time you start enforcing the existing noise and traffic laws.
And because I was hit by cars twice today in three minutes, I've finally started this blog with a consortium of fellow residents throughout the city. The important issues that are addressed in this blog have been part of our discussions for years, around the dinner table, at local events, and at neighborhood gatherings. We should have brought this to the forefront much sooner. But we think it's about time that the concerned residents of this city document the ongoing problems that the city staff and politicians are not adequately addressing through proactive management, enforcement, and positive planning and traffic changes that could make this city friendlier, safer, more convenient–and quieter–for drivers, cyclists, pedestrians, and residents.
As always, a ridiculous, but inspiring, day on the roads here. And I have the bruises to prove it. And we all have this blog to make change happen.
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