Santa Ana Schools to Act on Street-Crossing Danger

Responding to the city’s high pedestrian injury rate, Santa Ana school officials are putting together a comprehensive plan to improve safety for children walking to school.

Underscoring the urgency, a mother and her two children were struck and injured Sunday afternoon as they crossed a busy city street.

In what would be a first in the state, the district’s police department plans to hire an officer whose sole responsibility would be handling pedestrian safety activities, including education for students.

In addition, the district hopes to win grants that would be used to install flashing lights and traffic signals at high-risk intersections.

The proposals come after a district study found that nearly half of all pedestrian accidents in Santa Ana involved children walking near schools. The city has the highest pedestrian death rate in Southern California, according to a separate study by UC Irvine.

Top educators said the new push reflects a growing recognition of the dangers students face on their way to and from school and the need to make those trips safer.

“We’re responsible for the students’ behavior on campus and also have responsibility to assure their safety to and from school,” said district Supt. Al Mijares.

The latest pedestrian injuries occurred about 2:40 p.m. Sunday, when a mother and her two children were struck as they crossed Broadway Avenue at 15th Street. A pickup heading north on Broadway had stopped to let the trio cross, but a sedan rear-ended the pickup, pushing it into the crosswalk and striking the three pedestrians, said Santa Ana Police Sgt. Dave Valentin.

The mother, her 15-year-old son and her 10-year-old daughter were taken to UCI Medical Center with minor to moderate injuries, the sergeant said. Their identities--and that of the sedan’s driver, who received a ticket after the accident--were not released Sunday night.

None of the injuries were considered critical, Valentin said.

The intersection, which Valentin said does not have a traffic light, was the site of a fatal pedestrian accident in early October. Angelica Saravia, 47, of Santa Ana was struck and killed by a van just steps from a bus stop at the intersection. Her death was the seventh pedestrian fatality in Santa Ana this year, surpassing the death total for all of 1998.

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The school district plans to identify danger zones around schools and determine whether engineering changes can bring about improvements.

At intersections or mid-block crossings where large volumes of traffic pose hazards to children, the district wants to install additional signals and literally flashing crosswalks.

The crosswalks, with lights embedded in the pavement, would flash whenever a child pushes a button. Traffic engineers and school officials say the new technology improves visibility and helps reduce accident rates.

“You can really see the crosswalk from all angles,” said James Miyashiro, the school district police chief.

To fund the project, Miyashiro hopes to tap into the $20 million in state funds recently approved for pedestrian safety programs. The author of the bill that allocated the money said the pedestrian problems in Santa Ana help convince fellow legislators of the need for the funding.

The district hopes to have the pedestrian officer on board by February. The officer would focus on educating the district’s 58,000 students on pedestrian safety. Riding a motorcycle, the officer would visit the schools during recess and lunch breaks, and also before and after school. Officials hope the constant instruction will ingrain in children the need to modify risky behavior.

John Palacio, president of the board of education, expressed support for the plan and said the officer’s duties would extend beyond education.

“The officer would also be looking at what other actions the district may take to make streets safer around the schools, such as asking the city to install yellow flashing lights where appropriate,” he said.

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Others also applauded the proposed measures. Principal Judith Magsaysay of Pio Pico Elementary School said the prospect of more pedestrian safety education and safer streets is heartening, especially at Pio Pico, where the vast majority of the 950 students walk to school.

“Anything that supports safety for our kids is a worthwhile expenditure. For us to educate the kids, they have to arrive to us safely. And that will make a difference,” said Magsaysay.

If approved, the district’s plans would bolster the city’s program to improve pedestrian safety. In March the city began a major enforcement effort that includes more jaywalking patrols and a public-education campaign targeting the city’s Latino population.

Since the crackdown began, city police--not the district’s officers--have issued more than 4,500 tickets to motorists who failed to yield to pedestrians and more than 2,500 jaywalking citations.

The school district’s study found that 52 people were injured within a few blocks of school in the first six months of 1998. During that period, five schools had three or more accidents each.

In May, city police began escorting home young children who jaywalk or play recklessly near busy intersections.

The city police department’s 28 motorcycle officers also began talking with parents about the importance of teaching their children how to safely navigate the street on foot.