Letters to the Editor
Prosecution may improve pedestrian safety
Editor: I want to thank the Sonoma Sun for running the article on the charges filed by our Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office against the driver involved in the accident that killed Anne Marie Simmons. The message to our community should be clear. Pay attention to the road, others who use it and pedestrians who navigate it. A life was taken by a driver with an expired license who failed to stop at a marked intersection with blinking lights. I don’t know the circumstances well enough to presume innocence or guilt in this case, but I do know that near misses occur in our town every day. The driver in this case faces a year in jail for her actions. Maybe a fear of prosecution will be the cold water on the face of this community to get us to hang up our cell phones, eat our meals outside the car and focus just on driving and getting to and from our desired destinations is the safest – rather than quickest – manner.
Joe Orlando
Sonoma Falcons
win tourney
Editor: Last weekend, the U19 Sonoma Falcons soccer team traveled to Newark, Calif. for the Orange-Black Soccer Tournament. Never having been to a road-trip tournament, I cluttered my mind with potential logistical problems: How do you get to Newark? (I thought Newark was in New Jersey.) Where is the hotel? Where do we eat? Such concerns were quickly swept away by the hard-fought play of the Falcons and the privilege to be part of a great bunch of guys who are as fun-loving as they are warriors on the turf.
Led by their head coach Woody Woodbury, the team came, played, conquered their flight, and then went on to win the championship game coming home with first-place trophies! Congratulations to all the player on the Sonoma Falcons. I will be sorry to see the season end.
Howard Egger-Bovet
(King of pacing-the-sidelines)
Sonoma too ‘citified’
Editor: Whoever the winning candidates are for the Sonoma City Council, I hope they will consider the fact that Sonoma has become more “citified” during the past eight years than at any other time in its history.
The apartments and live/work units behind the Post Office are typical of San Francisco, not Sonoma. Every square foot of land is being covered with buildings that will add to the flooding of Schellville – no water can soak into the ground.
The roadwork on East Napa Street is worse. You can make a case for smooth sidewalks and wheelchair accessible corners, but replacing the curb with a straight ribbon of concrete destroys the character of the neighborhood. Yet worse is the concept of unit curb and gutter that will prevent any future planting of trees. Trees that have been lost to concrete slabs during the last year will never be replaced.
Bump-outs in front of the Sonoma Community Center and elsewhere are just plain bad thinking. They not only eliminate parking but are extremely dangerous for bicycle riders. Imagine them having to suddenly swerve out into narrow two-way auto lanes – a recipe for disaster.
We need drastic action.
Council members should read the city vision statement aloud at every meeting. “More trees, less concrete.”
They should start work immediately on a new subdivision law that reflects the intent of the vision statement, not the standard state version that is adopted every year. Sonoma could look the same in 2100 as it did in 2000 – why do we need to look like every other city in the state?
Our rural country town can be preserved, but it will require a change in direction. The council should know more about the history of our city and valley before making decisions about what its future should look like. They should allocate time at every meeting – a few minutes is all it would take – to relate a bit of our history. Soon it would add up to everyone knowing a great deal more. This knowledge would engender pride and facilitate the decisions that would protect our heritage. Thank you.
Bob Cannard
Pedestrians have responsibility, too
Editor: In response to the recent letter to the editor about the yellow pavement lights not being effective, installing speed bumps won’t work either. There are several problems behind the yellow pavement lights not working.
1) We used to be taught (even in school) to stop, look and listen when we were ready to cross a street. Nowadays people just walk right out, thinking because they have the right of way (and now some flashing yellow lights) that they don’t need to take any precautions before they step out in front of cars.
2) Drivers these days are more and more distracted with stereo systems, cell phones, etc., so you need to be even more alert before you step on out into the street. Since lawsuits in California are so frequent and there are more lawyers in the state than all other states combined, people simply think that if they get hit, they’ll just sue the driver, not understanding that when a 150-pound person gets hit by a 4,000-pound vehicle, the outcome isn’t always a favorable one for suing. In other words, you can’t sue someone if you’re dead. The way the law reads is that you can not just step out in front a of a car (even if you are in the crosswalk) and demand your right of way. There is some responsibility of the pedestrian, not just the driver.
3) The yellow lights stay on way too long. I have seen them stay on long enough for a desert caravan to cross before they turned back off. Drivers are getting numb to these lights because they are on so long with no one even in the crosswalks.
4) I noticed you are a cyclist. Well let me hip you to something. First and foremost, streets are for cars! Every time we put a gallon of fuel in our tanks, about 40-some-odd cents per gallon goes to taxes to keep our roadways built and maintained so cars have a place to drive. If you are so concerned about pedestrians and cyclists (who always seem to ride three deep in the road and won’t move over for cars), then let’s start a new bicycle tax so each and every cyclist can contribute 30 percent or 40 percent of the cost of their bikes so our roads can be safer for them too. Otherwise, why is it up to the motorist to not only pay for the road, but to also ensure people learn to stop, look and listen before you cross a street? Or stay in the bike lane while riding in the road? Pedestrians and cyclists need to take caution as well, not just rely on the motorist to always see them and stop for them. It is a two-way street, you know.
Arron Johnson
