Drive to School Hall of Shame

I have gone on a jihad on the issue of parents that drive like maniacs around schools. I do not want to drive my kids two blocks to school*. I would love for them to be able to walk to school by themselves, but am terrified because of the way that people drive around the school (these people are mostly parents driving their kids to school). For a while I carried a crossing-guard's stop sign with me; it was very effective, but it was cumbersome, and it embarrassed my kids (on Halloween people in the neighborhood recognized me as the personal crossing guard). I tried using one of those air-powered boat horns, this worked okay, but it scared the hell out of other people that were walking.

Inspired by the old Highway 17 Page of Shame, I decided to carry my digital SLR camera with me on my morning walk to school. While most kids are transported by minivan or SUV (even though virtually all of them live close enough to walk), a few of us brave the sea of clueless drivers and walk. I live two blocks from the school, a four minute walk, and there are people that live closer to the school than me that drive. Many of the parents that drive are totally focused on getting their kids to school on time. They cannot be bothered to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks, as the law requires. In the words of one mother, "pedestrians impede the flow of traffic."

While it is fun to take pictures of these morons, I have found that carrying a large camera also has a preventative effect. As you approach a crosswalk, you raise the viewfinder to your eye, and it is instantly clear to drivers what you are about to do, and why. People tend to behave when they think they are being photographed. You can pick up a used film SLR for next to nothing. You don't even have to put any film in it (it doesn't even have to work), to achieve the preventative effect. However smaller cameras, and cell phone cameras, tend to not have any effect as they are too small to be seen by the drivers.

The 2005-06 school year has started, and I am off to a good start with new photos, and the preventative effect has also been shown once again.

*When I was a kid, I walked ten miles to school, uphill both ways, in the snow. And this was in Fort Lauderdale.

2. Crosswalks are implied at intersections, even if they are not painted on the road.

Pedestrians cannot suddenly run out into the path of a vehicle that is approaching the crosswalk, but neither do they have to wait for an endless line of of traffic before taking that first step into the crosswalk.

The law is vague on what actually constitutes "yielding" to pedestrians. One interpretation is that a vehicle can proceed through a crosswalk if the pedestrian is far enough away that the pedestrian does not have to take "evasive action." See LA Times article on this subject. Concisely stated, "A violation occurs if the pedestrian must take evasive action or stop to allow the vehicle to pass through." You're pretty safe, as a driver, if the pedestrian is on the other half of a six to eight lane divided road. On a two lane road you should stop, because in the absence of video evidence you would almost certainly fail to convince a cop, or a judge, that the pedestrian was sufficiently far away that he or she did not have to take evasive action. The "evasive action" criteria is not part of the law regarding pedestrians in crosswalks, it is one CHP officer's interpretation, and is likely based on the criteria for vehicles yielding to other vehicles.

*When I started a thread The D-SLR as an Intimidation Tool to Bad Drivers, on the Usenet group rec.photo.digital.slr-systems, I was amazed at the number of follow-up posts where the poster was totally ignorant of the fact that the law requires that vehicles yield to pedestrians entering crosswalks. Yet a check of the laws in four states (California, Florida, New Jersey, and Texas), all showed virtually identical laws, and it is a virtual certainty that all other states have similar laws (most states base their vehicle code on the Uniform Vehicle Code).

2. You can't park in a handicap parking space unless you have a handicap placard or license plate. You can't even be in a handicap space while you're in your vehicle. Fortunately, people learn this very fast when they get a $325 ticket. It takes just one phone call and the police will send someone right over. That Honda Pilot driver at my son's school will probably NEVER park in a handicap space again.

Hmm, it's 9:00 a.m., and this Camry (3KDG284) driver decides that the 'Right Turn Only' sign simply doesn't apply to him. There was another vehicle turning left just before him as well, but I wasn't quick enough to get it. This is one offense that the sheriff's deputies love to ticket people for. Time for another call to them!

I should point out, that it would be much safer for pedestrians if this was a "Left Turn Only" exit, because that would divert the vehicles away from the busiest crosswalks for pedestrians. But the braniacs at the city's public works department don't think about pedestrians. Eliminating left turns makes the vehicle traffic in the drop-off/pick-up area move faster. Of course if the line of cars backed up even more onto the street then the drivers would be more likely to do other stupid things.

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21 September 2005

Hmm, it's 9:00 a.m., and this Camry (3KDG284) driver decides that the "Right Turn Only" sign simply doesn't apply to him. I have a sense of deja-vu. Isn't this the same vehicle doing the same thing as in the picture above?

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21 September 2005

Ah, the daily stupid pedestrian photo. Of course since the school bus is blocking the crosswalk, maybe this mother felt that she had no choice but to jay walk.

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21 September 2005

What is this Honda Pilot driver doing? She's making a U turn in the middle of the street of course, because it's too much trouble to drive around the block. She's blocking the maroon car at the lower right, which had to screech to a stop as the Pilot driver executed this exceedingly stupid maneuver. I can forgive the maroon car blocking the pedestrian crosswalk in this case, as the actions of the Pilot driver were quite unexpected.

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26 September 2005

This Nissan Quest, 3TKG885, began her left turn after my son and I were already in the crosswalk. Would she stop? No way. She didn't even look at us. Evasive action was necessary. The white Suburban, turning right in the left photo, is an especially courteous driver when it comes to pedestrians.

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26 September 2005

I think that this vehicle driver thought that I was taking her picture because she stopped halfway into the crosswalk, rather than behind it. True, she shouldn't have done this, but the real issue is that the bicyclist came off the sidewalk and was proceeding onto the sidewalk on the other side. Bicycles do not belong on sidewalks. Motorists are not expecting bicycles to barrel across a crosswalk, since bicycles are supposed to be using the road. At least this bicycle was not also going against the direction of traffic, as is often the case.

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27 September 2005

A Chrysler Sebring, 5EZB211 makes an illegal left turn

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29 September 2005

An Acura MDX makes an illegal left turn (I couldn't get the license plate)

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30 September 2005

A Honda Accord, 4TKB230 makes an illegal left turn. I was far away, but I was able to get the license plate by zooming in using Picasa

3 October 2005

A Volvo 240 station wagon was parked in one of the school's handicap spaces. The vehicle already had a ticket on it, so I didn't have to call the police. I went home to get my camera, but in the five minutes this took, the vehicle had been moved to a regular space. I swear, I will never understand people that do this. The fine is huge, and the alternative to being obnoxious is to park a short walk away. This car is in the parking lot every day. I don't know if the owner spaced out or what.

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4 October 2005

A Mercedes ML320, 4NLN658 makes an illegal left turn. This is on a day with two motorcycle cops around the school. Too bad that he got away with it.

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4 October 2005

A Toyota Corolla blocks the crosswalk where this woman with a stroller is crossing (as well as where my son and I are crossing). This photo is after she backed up a couple of feet when she saw me raise my camera. This is an uncontrolled T-intersection, and it's hard to make a right or left turn without blocking the crosswalk in order to be able to see cross traffic. A three-way stop is needed here.

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4 October 2005

This vehicle is getting a ticket for some reason. I feel bad because this driver is unfailingly courteous to pedestrians around the school, always yielding to people in the crosswalk. I suspect that it was a no left turn violation, or for a U turn that the cop didn't like. Because of the no left turn sign, many drivers make a right turn, then immediately execute a U turn, which is legal, but which could be construed as a "dangerous action."

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6 October 2005

A Lexus, 5HKK070, makes an illegal left turn

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7 October 2005

A Toyota Camry, 4ASH266, fails to yield to pedestrians in crosswalk

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10 October 2005

This Toyota Camry, 5CZB556 zoomed through the pedestrian crosswalk with children halfway across, but I wasn't quick enough to catch him in the act, so you'll have to trust me!

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11 October 2005

A family dashes across the street, despite the availability of a crosswalk 100 feet ahead

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11 October 2005

Will the Honda Odyssey stop for the Father and Son in the crosswalk (partially obscured by the tree? No way!

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12 October 2005

The driver of this Yukon, 4UDG392 made in illegal left turn out of the drop off area. There were plenty of parking spaces in the drop-off area, or she could have waited in line in the drop-off area; she entered the drop off area solely to turn around, so she could park along the street in the opposite direction from which she came (too much trouble to drive around the block). I wasn't going to put this picture up, until the driver started yelling at me about taking her picture.

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17 October 2005

Will 4DRR019, a Mazda MPV, stop for the kids in the cross walk? No way!

17 October 2005

Will 3BKC969, an Infiniti 30t stop for the kids already in the crosswalk? No way! No front license plate either, another violation.

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17 October 2005

A minivan fails to stop for kids in the crosswalk

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19 October 2005

This Honda Odyssey, 4UVN698, waited until I was almost on top of him, before zooming in front of me in the crosswalk

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19 October 2005

My son and I are crossing in the crosswalk. No one will stop for us, not 3HIL867, a Chrysler Minivan, or 3JSK647 a Honda Accord

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19 October 2005

A Honda Accord, 3JSK647, makes an illegal left turn. This is the same Honda Accord that didn't stop for my son and I in the crosswalk!

I'm often asked why don't the police, the school, the school district, or the city, do something about this problem. Believe me, I've tried all of these approaches.

Law Enforcement
I periodically request crosswalk enforcement from the sheriff (my town contracts with the Santa Clara County sheriff for police services). They're good guys, and they do come out and do enforcement on occasion. But they have many other schools to patrol, and there are only a few deputies for the whole city; they cannot be there all the time. Our city council decided to cut the budget for police services, which means we have less deputies than before. We don't have much real crime where I live--the biggest story in the past few years was when a patron at the local Chili's restaurant was arrested for writing obscenities on his table, using catsup, then leaving without paying (he was upset that the meat in his hamburger was overcooked, but that's what he gets for eating at Chili's).

On September 26th 2005, I sent the following e-mail to the sheriff, since up until now they had been unaware of the existence of this web site:

Sheriff:

There is a continuing problem of drivers, mainly parents driving their children to school, committing infractions that are endangering pedestrians, both parents and children alike. While I am sure that these problems exist around all schools, I am most familiar with Eaton Elementary school, since I walk my child to Eaton every day. The problems are as follows:

1. Vehicles not stopping for pedestrians in crosswalks. This is occurring on the crosswalk at Suisun and Farallone, the mid-block crosswalk on Farallone (right across from the school, and the four crosswalks on Pacifica and Farallone.

2. Vehicles blocking crosswalks. This forces pedestrians to detour behind or in front of the vehicle, which is hazardous.

3. Vehicles parking in red zones near the corners, because they block the view of crosswalks by drivers. Since minivans seem to be the vehicles of choice, it makes the situation even worse, because it is so hard for other vehicles to see around them.

Two other issues are as follows:

1. Parents and children that are jaywalking across Farallone, since they suddenly leave the sidewalk and dash into the street. I see this occurring every day, and it is a tragedy waiting to happen.

2. Vehicles turning left out of the school parking lot on Farallone, which is posted for no left turns. Actually, these left turns, while illegal, reduce the number of vehicles crossing the crosswalks near the school, and are not really a problem for pedestrians, though they do create other traffic problems.

You can see photos of these violations at http://drivetoschoolhallofshame.com. This is a web site that I created to raise awareness of the problem of how parents drive around schools.

I hope that the deputies can target the vehicles that fail to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks, around Eaton, and around other schools. I have also made the City of Cupertino aware of these issues, because in reality, traffic calming measures are a more effective long-term solution than periodic enforcement action, which is necessarily limited by the number of deputies. Unfortunately, the city is not very interested in the issue of bicycle or pedestrian safety.

Thank you.

On September 29th, there was an enforcement action with two motorcycle officers. Whether this had anything to do with my e-mail, I don't know. I didn't get any response to my e-mail from the sheriff.

School Administration
The 2000-05 school administration of this particular school, was not pro-active on this issue, despite many requests from parents. The original principal of this school (after it re-opened as an elementary school following a long closure) was extremely concerned about traffic issues; he would lecture parents, he put notices in the weekly newsletter imploring parents to drive safely, and he would even stand outside the school and direct traffic in the mornings (alas, he retired). We now have a new principal for 2005-06, and we are hoping that she will take this issue more seriously. I notified her of the problem, and received a non-committal response of "thank you for your feedback."

Another thing that is needed is for the school to encourage more children to walk to school. Once a year they have a "walk to school day," which is rather insane since nearly all of the kids live close enough to the school to walk every day.

City
What is needed are traffic calming measures that force drivers to slow down and/or stop. These include speed bumps, islands, and stop signs (the worst intersection is one that is uncontrolled, with no stop or yield sign). The city actually is going in the opposite direction, by illegally removing existing traffic calming measures. We have a director of public works for whom pedestrian and bicycle safety is simply a non-issue. I recently spoke at a city council meeting about this, and other pedestrian/bicycle problems, and we'll see if it has any effect.

The city council is no help. Controlled by developers and real estate interests, their main concern is how many new condominium projects they can approve for their developer buddies. They are presently spending all their efforts in trying to stop a citizens revolt against more high-rise condo complexes, that are destroying the city and the schools (see http://bettercupertino.org). One councilman's pet issue is that there is no stationery store within the city limits, which means that he must drive his family out of the city to buy paper. One councilwoman, and former mayor, blew a $250,000 donation to the new public library with her racist remarks about the ethnicity of the donor (Taiwanese) see http://forums.yellowworld.org/archive/index.php/t-7419.html. Bottom line--no relief is going to come from the council on an issue as mundane as this; there is no money, or political capital, to be made in pedestrian and bicycle safety.

Throwing Objects at Cars that Fail to Yield
Okay, I don't recommend this, but once I was so angry at a driver that almost hit us, that I threw a scone at his Lexus (not a stone, a scone).

Send me your own pictures of crosswalk violations, and I'll add them to the site.

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