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San Luis Obispo police hand out 128 citations in two days

June 21, 2023

By KAREN VELIE

San Luis Obispo police officers slapped pedestrians and drivers with 128 citations during a distracted driving and bicycle and pedestrian safety operation on June 17 and 18, the department announced Tuesday.

Officers cited 42 drivers for holding their cell phones while driving. Under a law passed in 2008, drivers are not allowed to hold their phone or other electronic device while moving. This includes talking, texting or using an app.

“Despite repeated efforts to warn drivers about the hands-free cell phone law, some drivers continue to use their phones while operating a vehicle,” Sgt. Evan Stradley said. “Our ultimate goal is to change behaviors that help make our roads safer.”

Officers also issued 86 citations for a variety of violations including:

Minimum speed law; impeding traffic

Motor vehicle in bike lane

Pedestrian entering roadway against a red signal

Bicycle going the wrong direction

Failure to obey a traffic signal

Improper right-hand turn

Gridlock

Driver not wearing a seat belt

Passenger not wearing a seat belt

Speeding

In addition, one driver was arrested for driving on a license that was suspended for a prior DUI arrest.

Officers contacted more than 150 people during the operation that ran from 6 a.m. till 5 p.m. on June 17 and 18.

“Safety is a shared responsibility, with drivers holding the greatest responsibility to keep other road users safe,” Sgt. Evan Stradley said. “We hope this operation serves as a reminder to everyone to practice due care and to look out for one another.”


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Scary as heck to see a tailgater in your rear mirror riding your back bumper with the tailgater holding a cellphone next to his head. Not to mention the pedestrians in crosswalks and parking lots having to dodge dangerous drivers trying to run them down with their huge lifted pickups and suvs.


-5

Now experience that, while riding a Harley…


1

“Motor vehicle in bike lane”. Well, that’s difficult to NOT do in SLO!


“Pedestrian entering roadway against a red signal”. Didn’t Newsom just sign the law that made jaywalking legal?


“Gridlock” in a city that USED to have 3 lane wide streets…


I suggest, the citizens get their $150,000 (with benefits) annual salary out of the SLOPD, and insist on them walking beats through the downtown, South Higuera, and Foothill areas. It worked for Officer Krupke…


17

insist on them walking beats through the downtown


While vagrancy is an eyesore — accidents are the leading cause of premature death in San Luis Obispo County.


Of those accidental deaths, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause. Putting more resources into traffic enforcement, is a good thing — distracted drivers are putting all of us at risk of an early grave. Hobos on South Higuera, not so much.


Here is the data:


In San Luis Obispo County motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of accidental death in most age groups. For San Luis Obispo County residents, there were 9.7 deaths per 100,000 population caused by motor vehicle crashes (2013-2015 average), higher than the state for the same time period.


-7

Currently, SLOPD respond to a traffic accident, long AFTER is happened.


However, if being in view of the public and/or drivers on a very frequent basis, the presence of SLOPD could deter poor driving choices.


2

Messkit, you are 100% correct. Newsom did sign the new law regarding what was often called “Jay Walking”. The law as written leaves a lot of details to be clarified by the courts. What your suggesting is astute – SLO PD should have reviewed the law before writing that ticket, but then again it is SLO PD. Only the best and brightest, a convicted drug dealer, a convicted drug smuggler, a cop convicted of aggravated assault, another with a history of misappropriation of public resources (chief), a chief who could not control her own gun and left it carelessly and recklessly in a public restroom where a small child could have accidentally picked it up, then spun it on the person who picked it up as a crime. And the list goes on and on, only the best and brightest for SLO.


19

“The law as written leaves a lot of details”


“Ting authored the bill, which is known as the “Freedom to Walk Act.” It decriminalizes jaywalking, with the exception of a scenario where the pedestrian is creating a risk for themselves or traffic.

“This was just common-sense legislation. Most of us already cross the street in the middle of the street looking both ways. No pedestrian crosses the street hoping to get hit by a car or a bicyclist or a skateboarder or a scooter or anybody,” he said.

He says jaywalking enforcement has often been uneven, and he believes the law should temper that.”


-2

““Pedestrian entering roadway against a red signal”. Didn’t Newsom just sign the law that made jaywalking legal?”


“Officers will still be able to cite pedestrians if they unsafely cross the street.

The exception is when a ‘reasonably careful person would realize there is an immediate danger of a collision.””


-3

Perhaps the person WAS being reasonably careful, in his own estimation! It’s not like half the people walking downtown, already ignore the lights…


2

Are we supposed to be happy about this? Maybe they could spend some time downtown protecting us from the dangerous people we have no living on and walking the streets.


16

Fatal and near-fatal accidents, thanks to distracted and/or drunk drivers are taking place constantly here in SLO county. CalCoast features a whole page of car accidents and crashes nearly every month. We need stricter traffic enforcement.


The homeless people downtown are annoying, but they aren’t sending hundreds of our citizens to the grave every year.


-4

Hundreds? That is a gross overstatement!!


Fatal car crash and road traffic accident statistics for 2021-SLO

Fatal accident count – 3

Fatal accidents involving drunk persons – 0


You can’t just make stuff up to “support” your viewpoint and desires :/


4

Not sure where you got those numbers but here is data from California’s Office of Traffic Safety for 2020:

SLO (City): 108 victims involved in fatal accidents

SLO (County): 1,133 victims involved in fatal accidents


-2

Shouldn’t this be what traffic enforcement does every single day of the week? Not just two random days in June?


Distracted driving is a major issue — happy to see for 2 days it was addressed.


59