MAILBAG - Oct. 12, 2006

Limit crosswalks to lighted intersections

I believe that Huntington Beach needs to do away with the pedestrian crossing signs on Pacific Coast Highway that are not at a light. People have a false sense of security thinking that cars zooming on the road will stop at a crosswalk that is not even marked with white lines nor at a signal. The worst offenders are the crosswalk signs on Pacific Coast Highway that do not even have white lines marked. Cars will not and cannot stop. I do not know if the person who struck Heather Stamm and her boyfriend at 6th Street was at fault or not. I do know that pedestrians being hit and injured or killed on Pacific Coast Highway is becoming a much more common occurrence. Cars are driving too fast, and drivers are not paying attention.

I was struck on my bike by a racing teenager on Goldenwest and Pacific Coast Highway a few years ago. I was on the sidewalk; unlike the woman in Newport, somehow I survived. I know only too well that cars need to slow down. The probability of that occurring is rare though. Therefore, at the very least, limit crosswalks to only lighted intersections.

LISA THON

Huntington Beach

Victim’s father: Drivers, be careful

My son and his girlfriend were struck on Pacific Coast Highway on Monday, Sept. 25. Nathan’s girlfriend, Heather Stamm, was killed, and no safeguards will bring that precious young lady back into our lives. It was senseless what happened to Nathan and Heather; I believe if the driver had been more careful, not so much in a hurry or paying more attention, Heather would be alive today and Nathan wouldn’t be facing the prospect of months or years of rehab and future surgeries.

More pedestrian overpasses could be constructed on Pacific Coast Highway or concrete barriers that raise to stop traffic while people are in the cross- walk and lower to allow traffic could be installed and that might reduce accidents. The bottom line is that drivers need to pay attention to what they are doing.

The driver may not have intended to harm anyone and maybe he’s in pain too, but what he’s going though can’t be compared with the anguish and torment that Heather’s family is suffering. Heather’s little sister is sending My Space messages to Heather all the time wondering why she had to go — her life is in a shambles right now. Heather’s dad described the pain as his heart being ripped right out of his chest and as painful as that might sound, it’s much, much worse than that; there are simply no words to describe what he, Heather’s mom and Heather’s little sister are going through. And I will never forget the look on my son’s face when I had to tell him that Heather, the light of his life, didn’t make it, was gone from the earth, that he would never see her again. It’s like we are stuck in time: 8:30 p.m. Sept. 25, 2006, and we are wondering “what good can come of this?”

Who knows what Heather would have done with her life? From where we sit, she was on the right track, but now we’ll never know. We’ve all been robbed of so much by a split second of carelessness, inattention or whatever it was.

Drivers need to be more careful.

GERRY KOONTZ

Fountain Valley

Taxpayers should not pay for crimes

Why should we pay or provide more safeguards along Pacific Coast Highway for pedestrian crossing at the city and state taxpayers’ expense? We have ample lights and crosswalks, all of which people ignore as they instead jaywalk on a busy highway.

Go there in the summer when a mom and a dad try to cross the highway in the middle of an island on Pacific Coast Highway with “Buffy,” “Muffy” and baby in a stroller, and Spot the dog in tow. How irresponsible is that, especially with a traffic light-controlled crosswalk 100 yards down the road? Why do our traffic division police not do their jobs and monitor these lawbreakers? They obviously do not enforce speed limits nor four-way stops. What are the taxpayers paying for?

We should stop accommodating irresponsible people who make poor choices. People should adhere to the California vehicle code, which all of us who have California driver’s licenses should respect. “Jaywalking is not a privilege but a crime, and if you get hurt, the onus is on you not the community.

DREW KOVACS

Huntington Beach