Whispering Dogs Don’t Bark

Several years ago the city hosted a transportation planner Walter Kulash who described to the city council and community the "adolescent stage" that we are going through with respect to transportation and it's focus on the automobile. That adolescent stage appears to be far from over.

The "Cars-Were-Here-First" sentiment, now fully represented by Councilmember Dale Francisco, represents that "adolescent" sentiment. I would have thought this progressive community would be far beyond that adolescent stage but it seems as though it has actually become much worse.

Childishly sounding groups such as "Streets R Us," "CarsRBasic" were formed and promote their car causes. "SAFEStreets" often is represented as selfless cause to keep streets flowing and safe for it's seclusive spokeswomen's family, and your family as well, of multiple automobiles.

The underlying "cause" of these adolescent car clubs have been the popular notion of "slow growth" or really "no growth." The exception of course would be one's own single family residential addition. Do nothing about anything so that Santa Barbara will be frozen in time, frozen in adolescence.

The northside business districts are essentially strip malls with many aging, asethetic and infrastructure problems. City staff is not perfect, and perhaps this project is not perfect. The problem with these adolescent car clubs is that their input is self-serving and are fairly effective at moving private and public projects toward mediocrity.

The car clubs are a serious force in the process but really should be considered a narrowly focused "special interest" that do provide relevant information. The city needs to respond to them and hopefully the city's staff, committees and 6 other council members understand this. However, what is more important for the larger community to understand is that if you belong to a pro-car clubs or sign a petition from a pro-car club you are being provided a very narrow point of view.

Talking about traffic... whatever happened to plans for a signal at Cieneguitas and Foothill? It's sorely needed there.

"As an obnoxiously self-satisfied lifelong bicycle commuter, I naturally was drawn to the idea."

This says it all.

How lovely for you that you are young and not disabled. I am neither. Bicycling is not an option for me, neither is depending on buses. I am very grateful for my little car, it is my freedom.

Yet you obnoxiously self-satisfied bikers think only of yourselves, and demand that everyone else live and move as you do; or else.

It's absolutely PC and de rigeur in Santa Barbara that the bikers are always right and everyone else is always wrong. It's OK to kick at cars, to spit on pedestrians who get in your way, and to throw things at vehicles who dare to actually stop at a stop sign and impede your progress as you whiz through.

So...all of us who are seniors and/or disabled should just sit down, shut up and sit quietly in our houses so that you can have the whole road and sidewalks to yourselves as one big unimpeded bike lane?

I don't think so.

Holly Dear,

I am a senior citizen who has lived here a long time. Aside from anyones abled or disabled state and age group, haven't we overdone it with the car thing? I do own a car, I ride a bike and I am fortunate to have a bus route a couple blocks away and ride the bus even on the nicest of days. Obviously I am not disabled but disabled people do ride the bus and improved services would be great. You would be surpirsed at how many people would appreciate less and slower traffic in their neighborhoods. That's why people request actions that result in, humps, bumps, chiacanes, pillows and law enforcement. While driving your car you need to consider that perhaps you are possibly a nuisance to someone. The opposition to these projects seems to come from people who have a very narrow view of the world from behind a windshield. So please forgive me if I dismiss get your point entirely. I would suggest you walk somewhere else other than to your car for a more rounded view of the world.

As a cyclist, I'm not going to apologize for every person who rides a bike. There are rare people out there, on bikes and in cars, who are very angry and take it out on other people.

The difference is that the ones in cars are a real risk to life and limb. The ones on bikes are merely risks to your paint job.

The question is, do you let their anger suck you into the dark side, whereupon you become another angry person on the roads? If you're in a car, are you ready to let your anger and impatience maime or kill someone's father or daughter?

It is entirely possible to drive a car or ride a bike, and not be a self centered anus about it.

Should we now start writing about how ALL car drivers are hateful and obnoxious??

This traffic intersection design will make cars stop at the new signal or at least slow down if they have a green light for the right turn onto de la Vina Street. Then, those cars will be able to see far enough down the street (per the tested engineering and safety manual) to stop in time for any pedestrian in the crosswalk.

Cars will never leave Santa Barbara, although the technology that powers them will evolve. They still will be something on wheels on the streets.

This is not a cars versus bikes project, but rather a cars AND bikes project, with a little more respect afforded for the bikers who are people too with just as much right and stake here not to get smacked by a car turning the corner.

Driving in down town Santa Barbara on a Friday afternoon rivals any Latin American city driving experience I've ever had. I had one cat killed, I called the police, I called the City, nobody seemed to be too interested in controlling traffic on my street because they were already doing whatever they're doing on other streets. My other cat got killed last week. I am in fear for my children. Whosoever thinks that additional traffic controls and traffic cops aren't needed in this town has their head in the same sand that comes out of the harbor dredge pipe.

The underlying problem is that Santa Barbara is filled with angry,stressed out people and you see this behavior exploding in the way they drive...and bike.

Enforcement is almost non-existant and the problem will continue because these people who use the roads are no different from spoiled little kids who have never had the fear of accountability put into them.

It all ties in as well to the gang and bar scene. A town in moral decay so the answer to many is simply to pass more laws. (On a greater scale, it's like those who want stricter anti-gun and anti-drug laws because they don't want to face the underlying problem)

America as a whole seems to be falling apart at the seams morally, and S.B. seems to be ground zero as crime and rude behavior spin out of control. We can say it's simply about bike vs. car, Black vs. White, Mexican vs. Black but the underlying issue about a generation that was brought up in a moral vacuum and now the chickens are coming home to roost and people don't realize they need to reset to default.

I would say that I am being conservative when I say that 80% of those I see on the road have little or no regard for courtesy or traffic laws. It isn't just the hormone-addled teenager who drives/rides aggressively. The fact that this problem is so mainstream is what is scary.

Well, good to read that billclausen supports the project at De La Vina Street because it encourages calmer driving and courtesy to other vehicles and pedestrians.

David_Pritchett writes: "Well, good to read that billclausen supports the project at De La Vina Street..."

I didn't realize I felt one way or the other about it. I only made a general reference to the state of mind of Santa Barbara. Must be another Bill Clausen to whom you refer.

billclausen;

I don't think these bad driving behaviors are a Santa Barbara, California or U.S. phenomenon. My observations are that the behaviors are occurring worldwide.

I think it is our overall mobility that may be the cause. There is a lack of polite protocol when traveling down the street or across the globe in an airliner. The World does seem to revolve around ones idea of oneself while strapped to our seats regardles of the travel mode. On an evolutionary scale we're still not far from being neanderthals and when we cavemen drive cars it makes sense to me that we would behave like club swinging knuckle draggers.

I don't think this is a morality problem but rather as you stated a lack of enforcement per mile driven problem. As you stated the problem has crossed into all age groups.

Back in the 50's we had a traffic "squad" of about 10 motorcycle traffic cops. That was for a town of about half our current size and Goleta was not even thought of. Still the ratio of motorcycle cop per driver was probably more accurate then and kept us more honest cavemen. One thing cavemen understand is a good wack on the head with a club in the form of humiliating financial disincentive.

I agree with everything you say Jonathansmith, but would add that where there is no accountability, people will not learn to be moral.

From up here in Santa Maria, my $0.02:

I walk to work along a 4-lane major street. The residential street intersections are landscaped so that cars wanting to enter the big street must block pedestrians (and bicyclists) in order to pull out far enough to see oncoming cars. Meanwhile, the local busses pass by nearly empty.

Bah. The nation has had over 20 years, since Reagan convinced the Saudis to flood the world oil market and bankrupt the USSR in 1986, to come to grips with transportation and traffic issues, but no politician had enough guts to take action (such as imported oil tariffs and stronger CAFE standards), and few citizens asked for such. 20 years and 4 presidential administrations without leadership and without a clue on energy and transport issues.