Oxnard’s unsafe roads keep killing people. Better policy can save lives.
On September 23, a 70 year old woman was killed by a driver while crossing the street. One week later, an eight year old boy met the same fate on his way to school.
These are just some of the latest of the 70 pedestrians hit by drivers in Oxnard this year. That number has outpaced 2017 and 2018’s rates, and caused seven deaths.
As we mourn these members of our community, we should consider the state of our roads that led to their deaths. The combination of unsafe pedestrian infrastructure, wide roads, and high speed limits makes car crashes more frequent and deadly, and the lack of alternative transportation options forces people into danger. These are public policy choices that can and should be remedied to avoid future tragedies.
The more recent auto death epitomizes Oxnard’s unsafe traffic conditions. That Monday morning, Alexander Vasquez was crossing the street when a driver killed him and injured two other pedestrians. The site would be problematic anywhere, but bordering an elementary school makes the design particularly irresponsible.
The three victims were walking at this crosswalk when the driver hit them. The paint is faded — nearly invisible from this short distance — and lacks warning lights. The broad intersection to the left and the dropoff zone on the right also make the wide road feel designed for high speeds (the speed limit is 25 miles per hour).
The 70 year old woman, whose name has not been released, was killed at this intersection on Oxnard Boulevard. The crosswalk is more visible, and its sign has lights, but there are no in-pavement lights. The broad six-lane road encourages driving faster than its limit of 30 miles per hour.
Research shows that fixing these issues can save lives. After installing in-pavement crosswalk warning lights, drivers yield twice as much to pedestrians, and crosswalks get more usage. Cities with narrower traffic lanes have fewer fatalities, as drivers go more slowly and pedestrians are exposed to vehicles for shorter distances. Reducing speed limits would avert thousands of deaths nationwide — pedestrians are about half as likely to die when hit by vehicles going 20 miles per hour compared to 25 miles per hour.
City councilmember Oscar Madrigal, whose District 3 was the site of Vasquez’s death, told me by email that he “will push heavily for ‘Crosswalk Caution Lights’ in that T intersection of Anita and Cooper.”
This is an important step, but the city should prioritize narrowing streets as well, especially in school zones. Some ways to narrow streets include planting trees and widening sidewalks. An especially promising approach is protected bicycle lanes, which dramatically cut down on cycling injuries and are associated with fewer fatal crashes for all road users, even drivers. New research even finds that protected bike lanes improve public health more cost-effectively than most medical treatments.
Protected bicycle lanes can be installed for as low as $15,000 per lane-mile, which would be roughly the perimeter of Ramona Elementary School, where the boy was killed. For about 0.1 percent of Oxnard’s city budget, we could encircle each of our schools in protected bicycle lanes.
State policy can help, too. Senate Bill 127 would have required Caltrans to prioritize the safety of pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit users on state roads that pass through cities such as 5th Street (CA-34). Unfortunately, Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed it, despite its supermajority support in the Legislature, including that of Oxnard legislators,
Street safety isn’t just a matter of public health, it’s a matter of equity. Lower-income and minority families walk and bike more and own vehicles less, making them more vulnerable to the rising risk of pedestrian and bicyclist fatality. Car crashes are a leading cause of death among children, and senior pedestrians are far more likely to die in car crashes.
Let’s honor the victims of these recent crashes with a renewed dedication to making our roads safer. Our kids are depending on us.
