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Dangerous street yields lawsuit
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Redwood City, facing a lawsuit from an injured pedestrian, is trying to improve road safety.
REDWOOD CITY (Map, News) - Woodside Road has proven dangerous for pedestrians in recent years, and one woman has sued the city, state and Caltrans, alleging an intersection on the street is dangerous for pedestrians.
On April 23, 2007, Deborah Jo Iverson reportedly was crossing Woodside Road at Orchard Avenue when she was struck by a car, according to the lawsuit.
Iverson was hospitalized and, according to a claim she filed with the city last year, she sustained severe injuries and incurred medical costs of more than $15,000.
Though the police report listed the driver, Raymond Herrera, as the primary cause of the collision, Iverson’s attorney said the intersection is dangerous for pedestrians and holds Redwood City, the state of California and Caltrans responsible as well.
Caltrans spokeswoman Brigetta Smith said she could not comment on the case because it is open and ongoing.
Redwood City Finance Director Brian Ponty said he couldn’t comment on the case either, because he hadn’t seen it yet. He did confirm that the City Council rejected Iverson’s initial claim in January.
“The fact that we rejected it indicates that our initial investigation feels that the city’s not at fault,” he said.
Woodside Road, however, has proven dangerous for pedestrians in recent years.
Since 2004, there have been at least five fatal auto-pedestrian accidents on the road, and several others that resulted in critical injuries.
The intersections of Woodside Road at El Camino Real and Valota Road each typically see about 75,000 or more cars daily, according to Smith.
The street is a state route, and therefore not maintained or regulated by Redwood City.
Despite the state control, the city has launched efforts to make that road and others safer, proposing to lower speed limits on six busy roads from 30 to 25 mph, and adding three red-light cameras on Woodside Road.
In November 2006, a 74-year-old woman was fatally struck on the 1500 block of Woodside. In December of the previous year, a man was hit as he crossed the 700 block near Orchard. A few months prior, a woman was critically injured in almost the same place as she tried to cross the street.
In December 2004, Kathleen Shephard, 52, was killed in a hit-and-run as she was crossing Woodside at the 1500 block. Hers was one of three pedestrian fatalities on that road that year.
Comments from Examiner Readers
1:16 PM MST on Wed., Jul. 23, 2008 re: "City ‘gateway toll’ considered"
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Examiner Reader said:
I guess SF really doesn't want people to come to the City! What a load of crock. Nobody in the SF govt has any business sense. Great, kill the goose that lays the golden eggs (businesses and sales taxes).
4 agree | 2 disagree
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just shoot me said:
sweet - another friggin toll. I already pay $1000/month in commute costs.
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Examiner Reader said:
If there were a viable, reliable CLEAN option then people would be able to not drive. Without that option people must drive. Clean up MUNI, make it dependable and regular and co- ordinate with other transit agencies and people will want to get out of their cars. As it is if you are in a hurry or out of communte hours MUNI is not an option. Also, I am unclear why people love BART!. Signage is pathetic and it is NOT co-ordinated with MUNI or Golden Gate transit, what's the point? Take a look at NYC, London or Paris to get a look at what good transit systems are. Funny, their workers show up and they keep to a timetable. Maybe we could try doing that?
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Bruce Simmons said:
for one, I don't understand how it cost $30 million to instigate the deployment of traffic control officers and traffic cones. Second, how would diverting a traffic jam to El Camino Real alleviate anything. El Camino Real is already questionably jammed up at traffic time and the ensuing flood of motor vehicles would only spill the excess onto the various side streets around that road. Spend the $30 million where it's needed, on the school systems or homeless shelters.
6 agree | 7 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
R.I.P. DeKeisha Skaggs! We will all miss you! -Jessica G. P.
7 agree | 4 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
600 Million dollars? Much too expensive and way too late to fix the problem. By the time the road is built, no one will care because the people will be gone.
5 agree | 5 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
These choke points have been around for over 30 years - and the drivers that dart into the lane and slam on their brakes that have not killed themselves are still endangering the rest of us! Leave the Baltimore area for good - I did 12 years ago and life is so much better since I don't have to deal with the crime or the local corporate societal ladder. I love to hear the companies complain about the lack of talent in the region. The problem is everybody in the Baltimore business district is trying to rape each other so what is left is table scraps for the locals - they don't have a problem hiring out of staters and paying them big bucks but if you are a local they hate the fact that they are reliant on you - especially if you are white and have a moral value system.
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ms jackson said:
All this money spent on highway dividers, anti smoking campaigns, youth violence intiatives, dietary labeling, unwanted pregnancies, anti suicide barriers, etc. could be saved by introducing a microscopic brain implant that would cause extreme pain and forced change of action any time somebody begins to behave in a way that creates any sort of societal problems. Of course, this would mean about 95 percent of huimanity would be constantly groaning in pain and apparently changing their minds!
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Examiner Reader said:
oh my gosh that is bad people need to start being more careful
151 agree | 124 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
When someone does something like this, it not only saves lives, it leaves the rest of us with the knowledge that one of us did a great good thing. I'm so grateful for that knowledge. John Beatty is a really good man.
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San Francisco Voter said:
Wow. I knew there were at least a few good people around here.
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Mike Licht said:
>>Re: Study: Traffic costs D.C. $2B, Baltimore $1 billion annually<< Editorial decision to omit hyperlink to the actual study is a gross disservice to readers.
235 agree | 226 disagree
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William Cooke said:
Great race. Thanks Annapolis, Annapolis Police, and AA County Police.
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