To the Ticketed, the ‘Real’ Crime Is Always Elsewhere

Dear Street Smart:

Did I miss something? An earlier column included two letters related to traffic enforcement in Ventura.

One justified the Ventura Police Department’s deployment of officers to ticket “rogue parkers,” parents who park in a red zone while waiting to pick up their children in front of the elementary school because they felt it was unsafe for the children to walk on busy Ventura Avenue.

The other letter lamented the lack of traffic enforcement personnel to discourage drivers from frequently running a stop sign less than 100 yards from another Ventura elementary school.

Can you explain why Ventura police feel it is more important to ticket parents trying to ensure their children’s safety than it is to ticket moving violators who threaten the safety of schoolchildren?

Ken Umholtz

Ojai

Dear Reader:

Your question represents a dilemma faced by law enforcement personnel constantly, Ventura police officials say.

“This is the quandary that we face every day,” Lt. Steve Bowman said. “It’s a no-win situation.”

Many people who get cited for a traffic offense, be it moving or parking, suggest that law enforcement resources could be better applied elsewhere, Bowman said.

“The people who get the tickets think we should be writing tickets somewhere else,” he said. “The person you stop wants to know why you’re not arresting rapists or other criminals.”

Bowman does offer this rational explanation for parents who park illegally: “There’s a reason the curbs are red,” he said. “That red zone they’re parking in, they may be blocking someone else.”

Dear Street Smart:

The corner of Rice Avenue and Wooley Road in Oxnard concerns me so much. This intersection is potentially hazardous for traffic bound to make a right turn onto Wooley Road during the rush hours in the afternoon.

Traffic on Rice Avenue does not stay in the right lane to make a right turn. Most drivers are unsafely using the right shoulder of the road to turn onto Wooley.

This traffic from the shoulder does not even yield the right of way. I have observed several near misses at this spot almost every day on my way home.

The usual traffic from the shoulder prevails, and the traffic in the right lane--the right of way--suffers.

I respectfully request to have an analyst be dispatched to observe and evaluate the situation, especially between the hours of 4 and 7 p.m.

Rufino P. Culapau

Oxnard

Dear Reader:

After contacting the Ventura County Department of Public Works, which oversees the intersection you are concerned about, engineers promised to inspect the striping along Rice Avenue and Wooley Road.

“We will investigate their concern and possibly restripe a right-turn lane there,” said Richard Herrera, assistant traffic engineer for the county public works office.

Investigations sometimes take several weeks to complete, Herrera said. And if new striping patterns are warranted, you can count on another month after that before they are installed, he said.

You can keep them honest by monitoring progress at the intersection.

Dear Street Smart:

Regarding the palm trees on Kalorama Street: If a driver is paying so little attention to his or her driving that he or she can’t see the palm trees on Kalorama Street, perhaps he or she shouldn’t be driving at all. Certainly, they shouldn’t drive in Ojai, where they have huge 100-year-old oak trees in the middle of the street.

Let’s keep the old palm trees on Kalorama Street, even if we have had to plant new palm trees along Main Street.

Ann Michalski

Ventura

Dear Reader:

Despite the question concerning the potentially dangerous situation along Kalorama Street, no one--not the letter-writer nor Ventura city officials--suggested that the swaying palms be chopped down.

In fact, both the Ventura traffic engineer and the city’s longtime arborist said the reason the palms are in the road is because city officials wanted to save them when the street was widened several decades ago.

Rest assured, however, that you were not the only person to register support for the trees. Be equally assured that there are no plans to remove them.

Write to Street Smart, The Times Ventura County Edition, 93 S. Chestnut St., Ventura 93001. You may enclose a simple sketch if it will help Street Smart understand your traffic questions. Or call our Sound Off Line, 653-7546. Whether writing or calling, include your full name, address, and day and evening phone numbers. No anonymous queries will be accepted, and letters are subject to editing.