Recently, in Santa Maria I was stopped at a stoplight in the right-hand lane on Donovan Road with about five cars in front of me when the light changed, and before any of us could move a white car illegally zipped passed us going about 50 or 60 mph on our right side next to the curb. It continued across the intersection and on down Donovan at a super high rate of speed. These types of gross traffic violations that disregard traffic safety laws and good sense have become all too common in our area. It would be easy to pass the buck and blame the situation on the state government or the federal government, but it’s a local problem that demands local solutions. It’s time for a major crackdown by local officials, local educators, local police, local courts, and concerned citizens before it becomes even more unsafe on our local roads.
I grew up in the 1950s on rural Lakeview Road in the first Orcutt area subdivision. The new subdivision was an idyllic place to grow up with miles and miles of open range and cattle land to roam on. In those days you had to sometimes stand for hours to even see a car pass by on Orcutt Road and it was great when the large school bus would pull into our driveway off of Lakeview and then back out to turn around to transport my sister and me to and from school in Orcutt each day. Front door service was provided as traffic was not a concern in those days! Bike riding was also a snap in those days. With no traffic, you could travel from Lakeview to Old Orcutt in less than 10 minutes in perfect safety!
Times have changed! We have experienced tremendous economic and population growth through the years in both Santa Barbara County and Santa Maria. This has been good for our economy, but has put a strain on our quality of life with more and more people jammed into a limited environment. No longer do our state schools provide behind the wheel drivers’ education. On any given day one can drive onto Highway 101 and find speeding autos zipping along far above the speed limit, unsafely changing lanes without the aid of a signal or blinker, and narrowly missing adjacent autos. They seem to be unaware of what is taught in driver education: It’s important to let other drivers know of your intentions in advance.
On a recent Friday at about 5 p.m., I traveled down Blosser Road and to my chagrin was caught in a traffic deadlock in downtown Santa Maria as I turned onto Main Street and headed across town toward Highway 101. Each cross street was impacted with traffic jams as they tried to enter Main Street. Several autos just barreled into the traffic without stopping or waiting their proper turn. Traffic was backed up from stoplight to stoplight. It was an experience that I would not want to repeat, and I plan on avoiding that area of Santa Maria in the future.
For many years now, insured California drivers have been forced to carry additional uninsured coverage to cover a potential collision with unlicensed and uninsured motorists. Perhaps it’s time to crack down on those not permitted to be on our local roads? Might I suggest traffic checks similar to DUI checkpoints to end this problem on our roads?
Just as our local police have made wonderful efforts to curb gang violence in Santa Maria with a substantial number of arrests, so must they make the same effort to curb reckless driving in and around Santa Maria and Santa Barbara County. Might I also suggest the purchase and use of several unmarked police cars to weed out reckless drivers who seem to cool it around regular police vehicles? Judges need to also crack down on reckless drivers by making it mandatory for driver’s training for these offenders along with proper fines and other measures. Educators need to look into finding funds for behind-the-wheel drivers’ education for all high school students. Public officials all need to chime in and help with these efforts to again make Santa Maria and the surrounding Santa Barbara County areas a wonderful place to live and raise a family safely!
Ken McCalip is a North Santa Barbara County native who holds bachelor and doctorate degrees in history, cultural geography, and law from various California universities. Send comments to Editor Shelly Cone at scone@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Apr 28 – May 5, 2016.
