L.A. streets are deadlier because traffic laws aren't enforced

Letters to the Editor: L.A. streets are deadlier because traffic laws aren’t enforced

Firefighters and police respond at the scene where a pedestrian was killed in Pacoima by drivers who did not stop

Jan. 28, 2024 3 AM PT

To the editor: Michael Schneider’s op-ed article on traffic fatalities in Los Angeles acknowledges that road recklessness increased dramatically during the pandemic.

Anyone who walks, bikes or drives in Southern California will attest to the fact that driving courtesy has declined dramatically the past four years. Many drivers routinely ignore stop signs and run the first seconds of red lights.

While Measure HLA will bring about welcome improvements in safety and transit options in the city of Los Angeles, it doesn’t address the actual, stated cause of traffic deaths: recklessness. What is needed is increased enforcement of basic traffic laws, whether by cameras or officers.

Using Schneider’s analogy of a serial killer, the hunt should be for the killer, not just the roadway.

Thomas Bliss, Los Angeles

To the editor: No one who drives is mystified by the rise in pedestrian deaths.

It’s the norm to see pedestrians crossing the street looking at their phones. Another stupid move is stepping into the crosswalk when the light changes but without looking. That pedestrian would be in the right — and possibly dead right.

Let’s start a movement of tooting our horns at the phone zombies to wake them up.

Parrish Nelson Hirasaki, Culver City

To the editor: I regularly spend time in Queensland state, Australia. In Australia, the traffic death rate was about 4.4 per 100,000 people in 2021, compared to 12.9 in the U.S. How do they keep the rates so much lower in Queensland?

Radar cameras on motorways calculate a driver’s speed between two points. If the posted speed limit is exceeded, a photo is taken and a ticket issued digitally.
Sensors embedded in the pavement at intersections catch red-light runners. Again, a photo is taken and a digital citation issued.
Mobile speed vans move along roads and streets. These also issue digital tickets to speeders.

Until U.S. politicians commit to the greater good of our society, we will continue to experience our absurd roadway bloodletting.

Brian Burd, Santa Barbara

To the editor: I don’t understand why anyone would be surprised by the near doubling in pedestrian deaths in Los Angeles.

Since the start of COVID-19, there has been very little enforcement of traffic laws. Ask yourself, when was the last time you saw a speeding driver get pulled over by the police, never mind all the drivers blowing through red lights that are clearly red?

And how about the motorists looking down at their phones while driving?

I don’t know what the police are doing, but they sure aren’t enforcing traffic laws — and drivers know this.

Laurie S. Adami, Los Angeles