Laguna Beach battles for gold in pedestrian injuries

The Summer Olympics are over, but there’s one competition Laguna Beach almost always wins: number of car accidents involving pedestrians.

For a community its size, Laguna consistently ranks in the top five most dangerous walking cities in the state. To call it a walking city is an overstatement.

In 2014 it wasn’t even a contest.

We had almost triple the number of accidents involving pedestrians as in 2013, including two fatalities.

In an extensive review of police accident records going back to 2007, it’s clear that the city is getting more dangerous for pedestrians. Not only that, we are hitting and killing our own.

Contrary to popular belief, most pedestrian accidents happen in the non-summer months.

There is a wrong-headed perception among city officials — and some City Council candidates — that Laguna’s traffic issues happen only during the summer.

It’s only three months out of the year, they say.

It’s the tourists, they say. It’s the day trippers.

It is not.

Tell me, exactly, what are the nine months of bliss? Do they start in September?

Tell that to the person who was killed on Sept. 26, 2012, at High Drive and Allview Terrace, a residential area. It was a Wednesday at 5:29 p.m.

Or how about January 2010 when another person was killed in the canyon? Or what about back-to-back months in 2014, April and May, when two more pedestrians were killed.

Out of the six pedestrian deaths in Laguna Beach since 2007, only one happened during the height of the summer.

More cars hit pedestrians from September to December than from May to August in Laguna, according to police records.

The reality is we have a problem year-round, and it’s because the city is in denial. It has not done anything substantial to reduce pedestrian accidents for nearly 10 years.

The facts speak for themselves.

Bucking national pedestrian trends, Laguna drivers do not hit pedestrians on Fridays and Saturdays. We do it on Wednesdays. Why? Because we’re not paying attention and our roads are poorly designed.

Wednesday is the worst day, by far, for pedestrian accidents in Laguna. More than 40 people have been hit on a Wednesday, compared with less than 25 on a Friday.

And we’re hitting people at 3 in the afternoon, not 3 in the morning.

What that means is the victims are not drunk “day trippers” spilling into the streets on Friday nights and getting hit.

They are Laguna workers crossing in front of Surf and Sand, just trying to catch a bus.

They are moms in yoga pants running across the Thalia and Glenneyre intersection.

They are grandfathers trying to get their medicine refilled at the downtown pharmacy.

Lagunans are getting hit on Forest. Lagunans are getting killed on PCH. Lagunans deserve more.

Worst month of the year? December.

Worst year ever? 2014.

This year is shaping up to be worse than last year.

On average since 2007, about 22 pedestrians are hit every year.

If you don’t think that’s very much, consider that Aliso Viejo — with more than twice our population — has maybe three a year.

That bad year, 2014, we had 35 pedestrian accidents. According to the California Office of Traffic Safety, we beat Irvine. Irvine has nearly 240,000 people, about 10 times Laguna’s population.

Irvine. The only thing we should be beating Irvine at is number of cool art galleries.

And in case you’re wondering, because of some odd statistical fluke, the most dangerous date of the month in Laguna is the 18th.

So if the 18th of the month falls on a Wednesday, do not leave your house — or at least don’t walk.

Plus, summer has now ended in Laguna, so watch where you step. It has suddenly gotten more dangerous.

Don’t assume anything.

Don’t feel safe at a signal.

And don’t assume the city will help you win the right of way.

DAVID HANSEN is a writer and Laguna Beach resident. He can be reached at hansen.dave@gmail.com.