A pedestrian, apparently jaywalking, was hit by a car on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood early this morning.
According to Sgt. Dave Valentine at the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station, the accident occurred around 2 a.m. near the intersection of Santa Monica with Larrabee Street, where there is no pedestrian crosswalk.
“The guy was seen by witnesses stumbling into the street when he got hit,” Valentine said. “Minor injuries only.” Valentine said the man was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for treatment.
Grant Smith, a DJ, issued an early report of the accident with a post on his Facebook page.
“So walking home from playing at the Mother Lode, I just saw some guy get hit in the street crossing Santa Monica Blvd.,” Smith wrote. “He was not crossing at one of the crosswalks, he was crossing at Larrabee and across from the police station, where there is no crosswalk. The car hit him, I could see him flip over in the air, and he landed with a big “crack” sound, like he landed on his head and his skull had been broken. Really sad. Neither drivers nor pedestrian seem to have any understanding what kind of force and power a moving 2000 lbs. vehicle actually has. It is truly sad. We must find a solution.”
This morning’s accident is the latest of several that have stirred local residents, including a driver hitting and injuring a pedestrian in a crosswalk at Santa Monica Boulevard at Westmount in June and the death last weekend of Clinton Bounds, a man well-known in the gay nightlife community, who was struck by a car while crossing Santa Monica Boulevard at night near a crosswalk at Palm. Bounds apparently was not in the crosswalk when he was hit.
The June incident led to the creation of Cross Safe WeHo, a group advocating that West Hollywood do more to improve pedestrian safety. After the death of Bounds, local residents staged a demonstration in the crosswalk at Santa Monica at Palm, stopping traffic as they walked back and forth carrying signs saying “No More Deaths.”
The West Hollywood City Council in February authorized the city to seek bids for the installation of flashing lights at Santa Monica Boulevard crosswalks at Palm and Hancock avenues and at a San Vicente Boulevard crosswalk in front of the West Hollywood Library. Those flashing lights would join others already installed at three other locations: on Santa Monica Boulevard at Westmount Drive and at Orange Grove Avenue and on Crescent Heights Boulevard at Norton Avenue.
Larry Block, a candidate in the 2015 City Council race and one of the most outspoken advocates for more crosswalk safety efforts, has criticized the city for not yet seeking bids for the flashing lights. Residents also have appeared before the city’s Public Safety and Transportation commissions to complain about their perceived inaction on the issue.
Citizen complaints at a recent Public Safety Commission meeting led to two commissioners, Marcy Norton and Ruth Williams, complaining that they had been unable to get the Transportatin Commission, under whose jurisdiction the issue falls, to deal with the matter.
While the death of Clinton Bounds sparked a public demonstration and an unprecedented number of comments on WEHOville, to date the City of West Hollywood has remained silent on the matter. However insiders say City Hall is trying to arrange a joint meeting of the Transportation and Public Safety commissions to address the issue. And they say the request for bids for flashing lights hasn’t been issued because city staff members are conducting research to see if they can identify more effective measures.
Pedestrians have the right of way no matter where they enter a street. CARS/TRUCKS need to know they are at legal jeopardy if they ignore this. It seems sometimes that auto drivers purposly drive too fast, ignore pedestrians, bikes or anyone but themselves. Driving is not an outlet for personal rage (sober or otherwise) and we need to impose all legal action on them. WHERE are the LA Sheriffs which was pay for? None near crosswalks, none in cars watching, none near Bars/Clubs???? Bike cops are long gone too. Is the LA Sheriff dept. trying to blackmail the city for… Read more »
I call BS on this one Don. Pedestrians need to be just as aware as drivers. Also, I have seen the bike cops, but they cannot be at every intersection and crosswalk in the city. Weho is a pretty darn safe place to live, so I think your rage is misguided.
like I said. weho city council will sit back and watch one after the other get struck down on the very, very dark santa monica blvd, until the victim is someone who they love or someone who has made a donation to their campaign . we also should consider that the bars are over- pouring drinks then pouring people out on the streets in traffic with no disregard for their safety. the number one reason bar owners wake up in the morning is to sell as many drinks as possible, once they have the patrons money they couldn’t care less… Read more »
Just look at Sunset Plaza, can’t jaywalk across potted flowers.
We need to ask why this is happening so often along SMB. Are the crosswalks less prominent or visisble on SMB? No. In fact, they are well marked and well lit compared to crosswalks in the City of L.A. Are drivers going faster along SMB? No. Traffic along SMB (and pretty much everywhere else in WeHo) moves quite slowly. Are there more pedestrians crossing here? Perhaps, but there are plenty of other areas around town with heavy pedestrian activity. The answer here is that WeHo pedestrians routinely step into traffic as if they are not susceptible to harm. When I… Read more »
I still say, that instead of the higher signs that flash, we need the rows of flashers that lay on the street when the button is pushed. They have one by Cedars- Sinai hospital, and it works great, you really see it. We have enough money in the city to implement those.
I’m on team Manny. I cross streets all the time (even jaywalking at times) and I will never get by a car because I follow one simple rule: Do not step in front of moving cars (especially ones that are moving quickly) if you want to live. Since SMB was rebuilt in the early 2000s, WeHo pedestrians have had a super annoying sense of entitlement that is now proving to be quite deadly. Maybe we need to have crossing guards stationed around WeHo like they do around elementary schools. Guys: Get your S#!! togeher – you are making the rest… Read more »
Although “JAYWALKING” is illegal, California State Law, unless it has been changed, when a pedestrian steps off the curb, the vehicle must stop. This is a Serious Issue! Needs Immediate Resolution! Simple solution, like the city of Santa Monica, Lighted crosswalks. Lights in the street. Lights on the signage. Every street intersection, including “T” intersections, On Santa Monica Blvd., Sunset Blvd. and Melrose Ave. that does not have a traffic signal. Those lights need to be RED. NOT YELLOW. People are trained to stop for RED, they push the envelope on YELLOW! They actually speed up to beat the Yellow!… Read more »
Jess, they have the lights in the street down in Laguna Beach, and they are yellow, and everyone stops. The thing is, you can see them.
All I can say is that I’ve lived in weho for many decades and I don’t remember even one death before the crosswalks and the current count is THREE.
DO SOMETHING WEHO CITY HALL!!!!!!!!!
I agree with Adam and Manny. Wehoenthusiast, if you knew Clinton so well, then you would know he would have been tipsy by that time on a Friday night. I am sure he was crossing to take the pick up bus. To me, it doesn’t really matter if he jaywalked, or was in the crosswalk, because all I know is, if I ever cross Santa Monica Blvd, I stare right at the cars, and make sure they are stopping before I ever set foot in the street. And, I stare the whole time I am crossing, because another car may… Read more »
First of all…pedestrians and people riding bicycles along SMBlvd. need to obey the law…period! Jaywalking, walking & riding against red lights (also considered jaywalking) happens every day! Flashing lights are not the solution…over half the people crossing don’t bother to push the button to operate them…they just start walking staring at their phones expecting drivers to stop for them. I now avoid that stretch of SMBlvd at any time of day…always jammed!
I have seen many times where the flashing lights are on and the cars do not stop., like the drivers are distracted or maybe the flashing lights are way to high and the drivers do not see them.
Why not look into installing a red light mechanism or maybe adding speed bumps with flashing lights on the ground?
Santa Monica city has speed bumps with flashing lights and they seem very safe and drivers always stop.
As always. radio silence from City Hall. Whether these guys are at fault or not, say something, A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G!!!!!
Carleton – You have identified real problems and shared important information. A couple things though – 1) WeHo because of country and state law can’t arbitrarily make changes to its traffic flow (slowing it down, trying to divert traffic) in a vacuum. My understanding is that for Santa Monica, because it is a state highway (CA 2), they are further limited as to its ability to do much in terms of speed limits or otherwise slowing down the flow. 2) And it needs to be repeated – any change on SM making traffic slower would automatically mean more clogged side… Read more »