The following are letters written into the editor of The Pilot for the February 2010 issue. Letters can cover a wide range of topic and often are concerning local issues discussed in previous issues of the paper.
A few things occurred this past week that solidified my belief that there should be no additional stop signs or signaled lights on Redwood Shores Parkway.
As I was stopped at a red light on Redwood Shores Parkway, at Market Place, a car went straight through the light without slowing down or with any hesitation. The woman driving the car almost hit a car that was making a left turn across her path. This could have ended with a very serious accident. Fortunately, the car turning left swerved to avoid the oncoming car.
There were three lanes of cars, all stopped, but she was oblivious to this. As luck would have it, a police officer was directly behind my car, so he also saw the entire episode. And he was able to apprehend the driver. This is one time that my wish of “Where’s a police officer when you need one?” came true.
In three additional incidents, this week, I was almost side swiped by cars whose drivers were not paying attention. The narrower lanes, on Redwood Shores Parkway, have been a constant contributor to this when drivers are not alert. I see this on a daily basis.
Today, a woman in the lane to my right literally tried to come into my lane to get to the far left lane. She didn’t care that she had no space to do so as she would have had to run into and over my car to do so. I did honk at her, to advise her that she was going to hit my car, but she only glared at me while gunning her car to race in front of me, while almost hitting another car.
Another point is that cyclists rarely, if ever, stop at stop signs. I witness this all the time, and saw one man do this yesterday. They can’t be bothered; it appears, to heed the posted signs. And, the new bike lanes make it easier to do so. If they were to utilize the paved multi-use paths, they would be more apt to stop, as it places them where they must pay attention to cross traffic.
As I mentioned in my letter in last month’s “Pilot”, there is no need to waste our taxpayer’s money on more stop signs or lights. It is the inattentiveness of people that causes accidents, whether they are walking, biking, or driving. And, the present lights and stop signs on the Parkway, are creating hostility and the need to speed, to make up for lost time when they either stop or “barely” slow down.
The people that are demanding to have a stop sign at Cringle have two great, safe and stress free options to use. They can either drive parallel to Redwood Shores Parkway for only one block, either East or West, to have a safe crossing at Marlin Drive or Bridge Parkway. This is a no brainier and would save them time as well.
That is the safest and most logical solution for everyone!!! WE DON’T NEED MORE LIGHTS AND STOP SIGNS ON REDWOOD SHORES PARKWAY!!!
— Linda Drummy, Redwood Shores Homeowner
The only people who want a stop sign at Kringle are the ones who live on Kringle. We already have many, many stop signs on Redwood Shores Pkwy and Marine Parkway (the only access roads to my home). Why can’t the people who live south of RS Pkwy just make a right turn on RS Pkwy and then make a u-turn at the next intersection?
Why should the majority of people suffer because a few people don’t want a few extra seconds of inconvenience?
— D. Miller