Olympian survey reveals wild roads
A recent Olympian survey of drivers near CVHS found that four percent of drivers sped past a stop sign, six percent used their phones behind the wheel, and 24 percent of pedestrians illegally jaywalked.
“It scares me that people aren’t following directions,” said Superintendent Parvin Ahmadi.
The return to in-person classes also comes with the return of notorious CVHS traffic. With parents and students rushing to class or going home, the streets around CVHS are filled with gridlock both before and after school.
“Every school has their own problems with traffic,” said California Highway Patrol (CHP) Officer Daniel Jacowitz.
Cell phone use while driving is a common problem everywhere. Driving requires drivers to react quickly and a quick glance at a cell phone can result in drivers missing something and getting into an accident.
At the corner of Redwood Road and Mabel Avenue, The Olympian observed six out of 100 drivers looking at their phones. This is up one percent from the last time The Olympian did a similar survey, in which five percent of drivers were using their phones. An officer could write a ticket for a $170 fine for drivers using phones.
There are many stop signs around the high school placed to help slow down drivers. At stop signs, drivers are required to make a full stop behind the limit line, yield, then go when it’s their turn. However, many times these signs are ignored, with drivers speeding right past the stop. The Olympian observed four out of 100 drivers ignoring the stop sign at the intersection of Santa Maria Avenue and Somerset Avenue, a popular walking route for many students walking home.
A common thing Officer Jacowitz sees is a “Hollywood Stop,” in which drivers slow down at the stop sign but do not fully stop and observe the intersection for any obstacles. By law, a full stop is required at a stop sign, and a violation could result in a point on your driver’s license and a hefty fine.
Pedestrians don’t get off scot free with the traffic issue at CVHS either. With many students running late or wanting to get home faster, many will jaywalk across busy lanes of traffic. Jaywalking is defined by the CHP as any pedestrian not crossing at a designated crosswalk. A common misconception that many pedestrians have is that they always have the right of way. This is true at crosswalks, however on the street jaywalkers could cause a major slowdown in the flow of traffic.
The Olympian observed 24 out of 100 students weaving through cars on Mabel Avenue.
“Don’t expect a motorist to see you,” said Jacowitz. “Make sure to make eye contact.”
There are hefty fines for jaywalkers as well. Although not usually enforced, a jaywalking violation can set you back $200-$300.
Parents are also concerned about students jaywalking. “Drivers definitely need to be paying attention, but students need to pay attention as well,” wrote Laurie Devine in a Facebook post.
As Castro Valley is unincorporated, district administrators have to take concerns up to the county level to make streets safer.
“We’ve been working with the county for the past few years to put in sidewalks and signs that would be more helpful for walkers and drivers,” said Ahmadi.
CVHS has more students than many small towns, and so it is no surprise that drivers need to be extra careful. Some advice Jacowitz would give to drivers: “Always err on the side of caution and always act like it is your first time driving to the high school.”
I am not surprised about the results because I know that many people just walk when they want to. Many people are in a rush to get from one place to another and they don’t bother looking around or taking a deep breath and slowing down. I think a lot of people also try to look cool, so they tend to rebel more to show off to others.
I see people jaywalking all the time, so I’m not surprised at these results.
24 out of 100 people Jaywalking is a pretty big number of people especially when there are a lot of cars around the highschool and traffic. People can get hurt if they are not careful especially when it says 4 out of 100 drivers sped through stop signs. Also many drivers glance at there phone so one glace could cause a major accident. They should enforce Jaywalking fines to decrease the amount of Jaywalkers and make the road more safe.
I’m only posting this for a school assignment, but it’s honestly weird how many people speed past a sign that clearly has the words “STOP” in big capital letters on a red background.
1/4th of 100 students jaywalking is a pretty huge number but I feel like a problem like this is to be expected in a society like the one we live in.
I jaywalk in the morning with like 10 other people and it doesn’t slow down traffic at all because no one comes from the street which has the green light. Its pretty safe and if anything it helps against traffic.
I’m not too surprised after I read this report. Hopefully people will stop doing that.
I always hear people debating with their friends whether they should or shouldn’t jaywalk. Just don’t do it, it’s just another minute.
It is unsurprising that so many people jaywalk in the area because it is something that I see people doing constantly.
I’m not surprised by the results. I think we all need to be more careful.
I hope nothing bad will happen in the future because of some of these drivers.
I am not surprised in the slightest. I drive home everyday and I’ve seen how some of you people walk down the street. The traffic is crazy out there and you could very easily get hurt. I think the school would definitely benefit from a revaluation on how to deal with the traffic.
I’m not super surprised with the results (it’s always crazy on those intersections) but this was really well reported and done.
Sad to say i’m not very surprised by the results but hopefully in the next few years these numbers will go down rather than up.
this gives good insight on the crazy traffic at cvhs, and the results were definitely not surprising
I feel like a lot of people expected these results to be as high as they were.
I use the Santa Maria sidewalks. The traffic is crazy.
Honestly not too surprised with these results. Great reporting!