Not So Fast

When a cat was run over and killed by a car on Minorca Drive last month, the incident was not unusual. But the events that followed were.

Saddened by the death of Oscar the cat and other pet injuries and near-misses, a dozen children in the Mesa Verde neighborhood posted hand-made signs urging drivers to obey the 25 mph speed limit. One of them read: “A cat got run over today--slow.”

Monica Conlon, 7, Oscar’s owner, said, “They should slow down--I watch them. Oscar died because a car was going too fast.”

Other pets have been injured or killed, and Monica herself was nearly hit by a car a year ago, said her mother, Lois Conlon.

The family complained to City Hall then, and the 25 mph speed limit was stenciled on the street in front of their house. But that has not stopped the speeders, many of whom use Minorca Drive as an alternative to busy Adams Avenue between Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach, residents say.

The children’s sign campaign was short-lived. The notices came down after city officials pointed out that posting them in the public right-of-way was illegal. So the youngsters took a different tack.

On behalf of the children, Timmy Zimmerman, 12, wrote a letter to City Hall asking for speed bumps. Sixteen activists 3 to 12 years old signed it. (The 3-year-old had help.)

“We all think that there are too many speeding cars,” the letter stated. “We are very scared to cross the street now. Cars speed from 30 to 50 miles per hour. I am not over-exaggerating. We got a 25-mile-per-hour sign glued to the road, but it didn’t seem to work or help at all.”

Parents have thrown their support behind the campaign.

Children whose pets have been hurt “were so emotionally affected that they had to do something to heal,” said resident Jean Hanna, 40, whose daughter Rachel was the youngest to sign the letter. “They had to do something productive.”

The adults followed the children’s letter with one of their own, which caught the attention of Costa Mesa’s Transportation Department.

“I met with them last week, and I promised them that we’ll do a traffic count and see, in reality, where we are with those problems,” said Peter Naghavi, transportation manager.

Naghavi said engineers will monitor traffic flow. A date for the project is being worked out with residents.

Municipal law states that streets must have 3,500 car trips a day to warrant speed bumps.

Naghavi said he is sympathetic, but children and pets do not belong in roadways.

“Streets are public facilities for traffic to go through, not to play basketball,” he said. “Children should not be playing in the streets.”

Youngsters say they do not usually play in the streets but frequently cross them.

“We play with squirt guns and run across the street,” said Ben Hill, 11. “I am supposed to look out for cars each time.”

If the Transportation Department does not supply speed bumps--or at least a stop sign at Minorca Drive and Andros, where Oscar died--residents say they will ask the City Council for an exception to the 3,500-car rule.

Naghavi said that would be unlikely because it would set a precedent.

“The entire city [would] turn into a big apartment complex with speed bumps all over the place,” he said.

Anticipating that response, the youngsters wrote in their letter: “Don’t give us any excuses about not enough cars or other dumb reasons. We desperately need speed bumps.”

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Neighborhoods

Minorca Drive, Mesa Verde

Bounded by: Andros Street and Royal Palm Drive, in Costa Mesa

Population: A few dozen families

Hot topic: Using speed bumps and other tactics to slow traffic on Minorca Drive.