HomeMy WebLinkAboutCorrespondence - #32
Araiza, Fatima
From:Nathaniel Greensides <mynci90@gmail.com>
Sent:Wednesday, May 29,
To:eComment
Cc:Hernandez, Johnathan
Subject:City Council Meeting June 4 2024 - Item 32
Attention: This email originated from outside of City of Santa Ana. Use caution when opening attachments or links.
Dear City Council,
I write in support of the item. I read through the Vision Zero plan I want to highlight the section about the 94%
myth which details how instead of simply viewing the issue of traffic incidents as being issues caused by
individual humans, we should be also considering how our traffic systems may facilitate human error and
therefore how systems should be redesigned so that harm caused by individual human error becomes less of a
contributing factor to traffic incidents on our streets. I recall a family member telling me one time that they
received a traffic ticket for not stopping at a newly installed stop sign in a residential neighborhood, but the new
sign was obscured from the view of drivers by a tree that had not been trimmed prior or post sign installation.
The systems based approach is also particularly well crafted to consider our residents where 37% of census
tracts in Santa Ana are considered disadvantaged and 55% of our residents do not have access to a vehicle. It
was nice to see senior level City staff (specifically Zed) quoted on multiple pages with the wisdom and insight
they bring to our City. Moreover, I appreciated the in-depth statistics about incidents between pedestrians,
bikes, and cars over five year and ten-year periods. I found it interesting that in the review of the literature for
surrounding cities policies and guidance, Irvine placed an emphasis on bicycling. Again, in our City which puts
education first, I think there needs to be a heavy emphasis on public education for both drivers and bicyclists
about safe navigation of streets in cars or on bikes so as to increase safety for all. Page 15 of the Vision Zero
plan mentions policy M-3.5 regarding education and I am most interested in seeing how this will be conducted.
Page 144 offers some education ideas and I will offer that I do not think that our local dollars and efforts should
be expended on DUI awareness campaigns seeing as anti-DUI messaging is pretty well covered across various
agencies nationally and statewide. Bike safety and maintenance workshops are a good idea; however I think that
City resources should be used to uplift entities which are already offering that service whether for profit, non-
profit, or otherwise. Share the road campaigns and driver training programming should include information
mailed to residents with links or QR codes to City webpages/information about how to safely navigate the
streets as a pedestrian, motorist, or cyclist and those pages should also detail legal consequences for failure to
follow any laws and regulations. It should also include benefits of traveling safely on streets, specifically that
safe and proper streets navigation helps people save time, money, gas, our planet, and most importantly, lives.
Sincerely,
Nate Greensides
Ward 5 Resident
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