Pedestrian-Safety Drive Afoot : Santa Ana Effort Will Crack Down on Jaywalking, Add Signals and Raise Awareness Among Latinos

In an effort to reduce Santa Ana’s high pedestrian accident rate, police Tuesday announced plans to step up jaywalking patrols, add crosswalks and traffic signals and launch a public education campaign targeting the city’s large Latino population.

The effort comes in response to a new UC Irvine study that found Santa Ana has the highest pedestrian death rate in Southern California, and the third highest in the state. In 1998, Santa Ana had six pedestrian fatalities and hundreds of injuries, the report said.

The study also found that children ages 1-14 accounted for 46% of pedestrian injuries in the city, and that some recent immigrants aren’t familiar with rules regarding jaywalking and crosswalk safety.

Santa Ana police data for the year ending June 30 show 12 pedestrian deaths. Children ages 1-14 accounted for 30% of injuries.

“A large number of children are injured near homes on residential streets while they are playing,” said Diane Winn, the associate director of pediatric injury prevention research at UCI.

“This is in an area where there is a high population density. There are lots of people outside on those streets.”

The new safety measures will include a crackdown on jaywalking, which police officials said is rampant along the narrow, tree-lined streets of the city’s older districts.

Police will also increase motorcycle patrols around dangerous intersections such as 1st and Maple streets, 4th and Main streets and Bush and 4th streets.

“We are committed to an aggressive, zero-tolerance enforcement for pedestrian safety,” said Santa Ana Police Cpl. Eric Mattke. Officers “will write all the violations they see.”

Mattke and his Pedestrian Accident Reduction Team wrote about 45 citations Monday, the program’s first day. Most were for pedestrians who jaywalked and drivers who failed to yield.

In a span of about 30 minutes Tuesday, officers wrote a dozen tickets in downtown Santa Ana alone, Mattke said.

“Right now, we’re concentrating our efforts in downtown,” he said. “When we tried cracking down about 10 years ago here, we found that when we started writing pedestrian citations, the word spread throughout the community, and we started noticing compliance with pedestrian laws.”

Mattke said many tickets he writes go to residents “who are not accustomed to the rules and laws of the roads. They also don’t drive cars. If they don’t have driving experience, they may not be used to how a car reacts.”

Police have long identified pedestrian accidents as a major problem in a city where many residents walk to work and to stores. Santa Ana has a population of 310,000 people.

One of the most tragic examples occurred when a pregnant mother was struck and killed by a suspected hit-and-run driver in 1993.

In December, five pedestrians were hit in separate incidents on the same day, including a first-grader who was killed on his way to school.

That same day at another Santa Ana elementary school, a crossing guard was hit while walking children through a crosswalk.

Three weeks later, another five pedestrians were injured in one day, including a child in a stroller. In January, a 7-year-old child was killed on Bristol Street near Santa Ana Boulevard as he was crossing with his mother.

Mattke said police will work with traffic engineers to design safe routes to and from elementary schools.

Plans are also underway to install warning signs and metal posts along city streets where accidents have been known to occur.

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Looking for Trouble

Santa Ana will begin more closely patrolling troublesome intersections in the city. The increased police presence, funded in part by a state grant. is aimed at bringing down the number of pedestrian deaths and injuries.

Pedestrian deaths and injuries in Santa Ana, July 1, 1997-June 30, 1998:

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1998 Age Deaths Injuries 1-4 2 20 5-9 1 40 10-14 0 22 15-19 0 16 20-30 2 60 31-60 5 86 61 and older 2 28

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Pedestrian Safety

* Stay on the sidewalk and crosswalks.

* If you have to walk on a road that does not have sidewalks, walk facing traffic.

* Most people hit by cars are struck when they cross the road at places other than intersections.

* Drivers need to see you to avoid you. Stay out of the driver’s blind spot. Make eye contact with drivers when crossing busy streets.

* Wear bright colors or reflective clothing if you are walking near traffic at night. And carry a flashlight

Source: Santa Ana Police Department