I was nearing home from my walk this morning at about 7:45. On 6th Avenue, there were two cars which had crashed, and two more from people who stopped to help.
The easy car to explain was facing north in the northbound lane at the north part of the 119th St intersection. It was badly damaged in front, and the driver was standing outside the car, sort of walking around, on her mobile phone, and she had only a superficial laceration -- really just an abrasion -- on her left forearm. She said she also hit her head, but it wasn't bothering her much, and she seemed generally OK. While I was there, our officer, Frank Arellano, arrived, and as I was leaving, another cruiser was arriving.
The car that's hard to explain was facing north in the southbound lane of 6th Avenue, several yards north of the other car (had apparently jumped the median, but it must have been in the intersection, because there was no significant piece of landscaping that was destroyed), smashed against a power pole, and with airbag deployed. That driver was holding her mobile phone, but not using it at the moment I got there, and was physically intact, but definitely "shaken up."
So, here's our problem. If everyone driving on 6th Avenue goes 30 MPH, or even a little faster, doesn't use a mobile phone while they're driving (or uses voice-activated bluetooth only), and pays attention, we have no problem. But clearly, there's a breakdown somewhere. And for the record, neither driver today appeared intoxicated. The question, then, is what is the solution to our problem.
There's already a speed limit, and that fact, in itself, does not prevent these accidents. We can wonder what leads drivers not to pay adequate attention to what they're doing, and I will take the liberty to suggest that the overwhelming distractor is the mobile phone. The last I remember, using a mobile phone while driving can only be a "secondary offense," which means it can only be cited if there's some other reason to pull over a driver. I would suggest that it needs to be a primary offense, and that if the backward state in which we live can't pull itself together to make it one, then the Village should make it one. Even if all we did was pull over drivers using mobile phones (which they're holding in one of their hands, so that hand cannot be available for driving, and holding to their ear, so they are disinclined to turn their head to see what else is on the road), and have a safety talk with them -- even if we didn't issue a citation -- this would be very effective at getting the message across: when you get to Biscayne Park, put your phone down, or discontinue your call, because if you don't, Biscayne Park is going to aggravate you, and waste a good deal of your time.
So, maybe it was the phone(s), or maybe it was something else that distracted one or both of these two drivers. How else can we get their attention, or at least prevent them from driving onto other people's property? The state can do one or both of two things to help. One is that it can erect barriers along the side of the road. The barriers can be no more than break-away metal. But you hit one of those, and you'll know it. That will get your attention, and so will the bill for the body work on your car. If we (the state), want to be a bit more subtle, and a bit more elegant, but still be very effective, while preserving the character of 6th Avenue, it can extend the edges of the pavement about 6-12 inches, and groove that extra pavement. You drive over that, and the noise and discomfort will get your attention, or awaken you, fast.
The fact is that I don't really know what happened this morning. Frank Arellano and his partner will figure it out. Maybe the drivers were drag racing. Maybe one got mad at the other for who knows what reason, and gave her the finger. But that kind of thing can't happen often. It's a short uninterrupted (lights at the bridge at about 112th St on the south and at 123rd St on the north) stretch of 30 MPH road in a quiet neighborhood. I'm still betting on the mobile phones.
