In the prior posts we have talked about Traffic Calming (TC) and the use of Engineering methods and Enforcement efforts to produce a positive impact. Both of those efforts can have an impact. But, in the case of Carmel, there are pretty extreme limits on the application of them. This includes budgets, manpower, and the desire to protect our village from potentially unsightly signage, signals or speed mitigation methods on roads such as bumps or dips.
Which brings up education. This site was started because of our desire to get educated on the subject after living full-time in Carmel for the prior year. Walking to town every day and living on San Carlos across from Sunset Center was eye-opening. Every single day we see an example of what we now call “Mindless behavior”. People running stop signs without slowing down despite us having entered the crosswalk. Cars driving 45 mph when cars are attempting to cross at blind intersections. The other day a large black Mercedes SUV G-class ran the stop sign at 7th and Dolores AFTER we had entered the intersection, barely slowing down, and then honked at US for getting in her way. We had to back off quickly to avoid getting hit.
Enough is enough. And, after meeting with Chief Tomasi and Commander Powell, and reviewing the 4” thick pile of information they were so good to provide me, we have determined that we will make some TC recommendations that will require capital budgeting and might take some time to get approved and implemented. In the meantime, as Clint Eastwood once said, “Sometimes, if you want to see a change for the better, you have to take things into your own hands”. And, that’s what we are doing.
First, we purchased a highly accurate speed detection device, about the size of a cell phone, and started measuring the speed of cars around town, focused primarily on San Carlos, which we have affectionately dubbed “The Freeway in the Forest”.
We found that the 85th percentile speed is about 32 mph. But, many cars are in the high 30’s and some in the low to mid-40’s. This is dangerous and is exposing both the speeding drivers and those attempting to cross traffic to potentially life-threatening accidents. We will be discussing the shocking risks to pedestrians and the liability to reckless drivers in the next post. This data, combined with the near-miss accident situations we witness almost every day while tending to our garden shows there is a need for education.
Where to start? Since we go out to lunch every day we started by discussing it with the owners of the dog-friendly restaurants we visit. Yanina at Basil spent several lunches with us discussing potential solutions and she came up with the idea of creating a message that we could insert into the check folio. We made some up, she put them in, and the feedback has been very positive. We then got agreement from several other owners to do the same and we made about 200 laminated inserts for The Cypress Inn, Grasings, The Forge, and Village Corner. We also made signs for Nielsen’s Market, Nails Atelier, Yolanda’s Hair Salon, Tuyen’s Alterations and others. You can see examples of these on the front page of this site. We will continue to role this and other related ideas over the coming months.
Finally, we started this website, Carmelcares.org, to extend our ability to reach out to local residents to inform them about the risks of Mindless Driving behavior and the benefits of Being Mindful in Carmel. This includes not only driving but also other activities such as keeping our city clean and beautiful, being an ambassador for the city with visitors, and supporting our local businesses and others.
We understand that we could be perceived as a bit of a busy-body getting involved in all this stuff but, once we understood the risks that mindless behavior is to our citizens we would feel guilty if someone is seriously injured or killed and felt we “had to do something about it”. We hope you agree and join us by discussing the message on our handouts with your friends and children. I’m sure you all have your own stories and we would like to hear from you with by commenting on these blog posts or sending an email to CarmelCares1@gmail.com.
