Grover Beach Police Target Pedestrian Safety Violators

Pedestrian safety is a priority for police in Grover Beach after at least two people have been killed while crossing the street this year.Dela Alfaro says she will not let her five year old daughter cross Grover Beach’s busy West Grand Avenue without her there hand in hand.”A lot of people are not paying attention at all”, Alfaro says, “I’ve witnessed people almost hitting kids walking across the street because they are busy on their phones. I cannot trust people like that, no, there’s no way that’s going to happen.”The West Grand Avenue corridor in Grover Beach has multiple intersections with traffic lights, stop signs and painted crosswalks.”I think if you are paying attention you shouldn’t have any problems”, says local resident Carrie Dunmire, “but if you are wasted or something like that you might have a problem.””Sometimes people just step out in front of you, there’s not much you can do about it”, adds local resident Sue Patten, “you slam on your brakes and hope you don’t hit him.”At least two people have been killed while crossing the street in Grover Beach in 2016, the most recent is 59 year old Juli Anna Conn of Atascadero who was struck and killed by a hit and run driver last month while crossing West Grand Avenue at 7th Street.The driver in that case eventually turned himself in to police.The Grover Beach Police Department concluded a recent undercover pedestrian safety sting operation. Of the 100 pedestrian crossings conducted by the undercover officer, Grover Beach Police say 9 drivers were issued tickets for pedestrian safety violations, along with several citations issued for various other violations.Pedestrians always have the right of way when it comes to intersections and crosswalks, whether they be marked or unmarked, state law also requires pedestrians be allowed to continue through the crosswalk or intersection before motor vehicle traffic can continue in any direction.Dela Alfaro says the solution is greater safety awareness by pedestrians and motorists.”Nobody really pays attention”, Alfaro says, “I think its not their fault that they don’t know that, its like really close intersections that we have, a lot of lights, a lot of stoplights, and everything that we have.”Grover Beach Police say they plan to conduct more pedestrian safety operations in the near future.