Update / Follow-up on the news : A Call to Make Freeways Safer

The recent death of honors student Ryan Michael Watanabe has prompted Councilman Jim Potts, a close friend of the Watanabe family, to call for modifications to the area’s freeways.

Watanabe, 17, was killed in April after he stopped to investigate a fender bender on the Costa Mesa Freeway. Another motorist rammed Watanabe’s car, which hit him and sent him over a 3-foot wall into a parking lot below.

The accident was near the Newport Avenue exit, which Potts said is one of several areas in need of higher walls or mesh barriers.

“Ryan would have lived, in all probability, if the wall had been higher,” Potts said. “He wasn’t hit that hard.”

At a recent council meeting, Potts garnered the support of his colleagues for a letter he will send to CalTrans requesting the improvements.

“If CalTrans won’t pay, then the city will look into funding this,” he said. “We might be able to save some lives.”