August 23, 2007

Graystone Lane tragedy need not happen again

By City Councilmember
Nancy Pyle
Special to the Times

News of the tragic accident on Graystone Lane several weeks ago left me and my city council colleagues deeply saddened, greatly concerned, but most of all committed to ensuring that this horrific accident is not repeated within our community.

On some level, everyone in our community has been affected by this terrible accident, which cost four people their lives. While many may be familiar with their own youthful summer joyrides or enjoying an evening stroll through a peaceful neighborhood, it was the combination of these all-too common events that tragically culminated in Monday night’s terrible accident. It is now up to our community to mourn for those we have lost and learn what steps can be taken to prevent an accident of this magnitude in the future.

After hearing about the accident from San Jose Police Department’s Southern Division Capt. David Cavallaro, I knew the first steps would be to mobilize our Department of Transportation (DOT) in gathering as much information as we could about Graystone Lane. While this accident occurred on the county-controlled portion of Graystone Lane, the fact is that regardless of whoever has jurisdiction over the land, it is up to all of us to work together and find solutions that will prevent future accidents.

I truly believe that this issue will only be properly addressed and resolved through clear communication between local government and the Almaden community. In recent months I met with the Graystone Neighborhood Associ-ation to discuss a variety of issues ranging from hillside development to the materials used to pave our city streets. During the course of this community con-versation, speeding on Graystone Lane was raised as an issue.

Following this meeting I requested that DOT perform a traffic-calming study on Graystone Lane. While DOT is currently in the process of formalizing recommendations that will lead to safer roadways, it truly is the lengthy, laborious process that has failed our community.

While we are still waiting for more exact data on the specifics of the accident that occurred on Graystone Lane, there is no doubt in my mind that the time for action is now. I would like to applaud my colleague, Councilmem-ber Pierluigi Oliv-erio, whose district suffers from residential street speeding, for thinking outside the box.

The current system of traffic calming is not adequately protecting our community. At-tempts by my office and the community are often stopped due to state laws or because the city only owns portions of a particular road.

It is time we all take the actions which are necessary to ensure that our community can avoid this type of tragedy in the future. Each of us, as members of a heal-thy community, holds a commitment to keeping our streets safe. We must educate each other and remember that the greatest way to begin is to teach others by demonstrating safe, law abiding driving skills ourselves.

I will also be encouraging our Dis-trict 10 Youth Com-mission to create an outreach program that proactively works with our local high school students about the dangers of reckless driving. I will also be working with the Almaden Counseling Service, which can work with parents about how to approach this subject with their children.

Education, however, is simply not enough. While I have already supported the addition of 15 police officers during the June budget process, I plan to request additional police officers be added during our mid-year budget discussions in January if revenues are greater than expected. In addition, I will also be meeting with our chief of police and other stakeholders to discuss a tiered system of penalties for reckless driving.

For example, as someone receives a second or third driving offense, the penalties will increase dramatically. While this will involve the county and the state’s cooperation, the forfeiture of a drivers license or community service, as suggested by the Almaden Senior Association, are obvious options for repeat offenders. I welcome any and all traffic calming ideas residents have to better protect our streets. Please send them to my office at district10@sanjoseca.gov.

Working with state senators and assembly members to coordinate legislation as needed, and also relying on assistance from County Supervisor Gage’s office, I am confident that we will be able to move forward.

This is an effort which must be made on a local level as well, and for that reason I plan to join Councilmember Oliverio to explore the possibility of setting up a Traffic Calming Commission in the city as well as various other proposals that will keep our streets safe.

In addition, I will be working with the principals at Leland, Pioneer and Gunderson high schools regarding safe driving components offered by the city for their drivers’ ed courses. The grief will linger for many years, but it is the steps we take now that will define the lessons we are able to take away from the tremendous loss of Inder, Uma, Max and Erik.