Slowing speeders or risking a crash?

SAN MARCOS — As authorities in San Marcos work to curb speeding cars on city streets — particularly on San Elijo Road — some drivers are alarmed by one method the deputies use: stepping into the path of oncoming traffic to flag down motorists.

The practice, though, is part of their training and is standard operating procedure throughout the county, the deputies and the San Marcos sheriff’s station captain said Wednesday.

San Elijo resident Patrick Knapp said he has repeatedly complained of seeing deputies “go out into the middle of the road and put their hands up like Darth Vader” to slow speeding vehicles.

“It’s shocking to me,” Knapp said. The 47-year-old real estate agent said he’s witnessed it a handful of times.

But residents and deputies agree, the core issue is the need to slow drivers who zip through the city’s streets.

Sheriff’s Capt. Scott Ybarrondo, who runs the San Marcos station, said he’s taken Knapp’s complaint seriously, talking to his patrol and traffic deputies. But what the deputies are doing is permissible, he said.

“We didn’t find any indication that they are jumping out in front of cars,” Ybarrondo said, adding that deputies “are flagging people over in a safe manner.”

Knapp and others said they welcome efforts to slow down vehicles in the city, including along San Elijo Road. A number of people who live and work in the area complain drivers speed through the neighborhood’s town center as well as down a steep hill to the east.

Records show that 222 crashes have been reported on San Elijo Road since January 2008. The top spot for the crashes was at the intersection with Elfin Forest, with 43 collisions.

The city recently approved more signs, pavement markers and better lighting on the road after several crashes.

And in the 14 months from the start of 2012 through the end of February, deputies have written 651 citations — primarily speeding tickets — in San Elijo’s town center.

But some resident are still startled to see a deputy in the road. Teresa Waller, 40, said she has twice seen “a crazy cop” in the middle of San Elijo Road to stop traffic and flag speeders.

“He’s risking everybody, not only himself,” she said.

On Wednesday, deputies assigned to do traffic-enforcement focused on a stretch of Rancho Santa Fe Road, south of West San Marcos Boulevard.

The deputies stood at the side of the street, training lasers on approaching vehicles about 1,200 feet down the road.

Once a deputy spotted a suspected speeder, he would step into the middle of the lane and wave his arms to stop all oncoming cars.

The suspected speeder was sent curbside for a ticket. The rest of the vehicles were waved through.

The deputies said they were trained how to stop vehicles and flag speeders, how to mitigate the dangers and to always have an escape route — just in case.

“Common sense kicks in. You don’t want to get hit by a car,” Deputy Agustin Rosas said.

The deputies said they each usually issue 10 to 12 tickets during such enforcements, which run about 90 minutes to two hours. The enforcements can happen daily or a few times a week throughout the city.