Stop Signs Installed After Tragedy, Anger

Stop signs were installed Wednesday along Stagg Street in West Hills following the death of a pedestrian who was struck by a motorist last month.

The signs were installed after area residents protested what they say is the city’s failure to curb speeding in their neighborhood.

“Now someone is dead, and I’m mad as hell,” said Karen Stafford, a Stagg Street resident, who first wrote City Councilwoman Laura Chick’s office about the problem last Aug. 31.

Nancy Shows, 48, and her two dogs were struck by a vehicle on March 30 as they crossed Stagg Street at Graystone Drive, police said. She died six days later. Her two dogs were also killed.

Det. James Deaton of the Valley Traffic Division said the woman’s death is under investigation and the city attorney will decide whether any charges should be filed against the motorist.

Police say speeding is a problem in the neighborhood, but they do not recall any serious accidents previously in the area.

Stafford said residents have been trying to get the city to crack down on speeders for seven months. For a while, she said, police stationed a motorcycle officer there, but after the officer left, the speeders came back.

About 300 neighborhood residents turned out to discuss the problem with city officials Tuesday night at Fallbrook Mall. Chick, whose district includes the area, told the residents that she had asked the city’s Department of Transportation to install stop signs.

The agency responded in writing on Sept. 15, turning down Chick’s request and saying, “No warrants for the installation of stop signs could be met at this time.” According to the agency, stop signs do not prevent speeding.

Chick said the agency changed its mind about the stop signs after Shows’ death.

The new stop signs were installed on Stagg Street at Graystone and at Marquand Avenue, and 25-mph speed-limit signs will also be posted, Chick said. Eric Rose, a spokesman for Chick, said the councilwoman has applied for another stop sign, at the corner of Stonegate and Graystone drives.

Los Angeles Police Capt. Alan Kerstein of the Valley Traffic Division told residents they could borrow LAPD radar guns to track speeders, who would receive warnings from police. He also said he would assign extra motorcycle officers to nab violators.

The irony, he said, is that studies in similar cases show that 80% of tickets go to neighborhood residents.