VALLEY COLLEGE : Petition Protests Workers’ Driving

A petition protesting alleged hazardous driving by plant facilities workers has been turned over to the administration by a group of Valley College students.

The petition, which was initiated in a class, stated: “We, the undersigned students of Los Angeles Valley College, wish to file a formal complaint in regard to the hazardous manner in which the service workers on campus drive their vehicles.”

It said that on several occasions, students have nearly been injured because of the workers’ “disregard for pedestrians on campus” and calls for immediate action to correct the alleged safety hazards posed by the workers.

“I see them race by just a few hundred feet ahead and, instead of them swerving to miss students, the students have to step out of their way,” student Kerry Limpus said.

Limpus said a driver in a grounds sweeper drove by her recently and, “if I wasn’t watching, he would have hit me, so I stopped and let him by.”

Charles Long, the college’s operations service manager, said that if claims on the petition are true, drivers of the vehicles are violating a plant facilities policy.

He said the vehicles are restricted in the arcade area, Monarch Hall and other heavily used areas on campus during peak hours except when a specific job is being done in one of the areas.

“We have to have the carts,” Long said, citing the electrical, plumbing and other equipment that is often carried in them. “We have 105 acres to cover.”

Long said that although there is no specific speed limit, drivers are not supposed to be going as fast as students claim they do. They are supposed to “drive the carts safely,” he said.

Student Lisa Kerner said that although she hasn’t encountered any hazardous driving, she finds the noise of the carts disruptive during classes. “We can’t hear the teacher,” she said.

Speech teacher William Edler agreed, saying his 7 a.m. class has been “continually interrupted” by the noise.

He said the morning of Oct. 23 was an example. “We were interrupted by edger and motor noise to the point where we had to stop our speeches four times,” he said. “Someone needs to know there are classes on campus at that hour.”

The student petitions were filed with Mary Ann Breckell, vice president of administration.