Six weeks ago my wife brought home the most beautiful, bouncy puppy I’ve ever seen. We named her Pearl as she was all white with a brown patch over her left eye. Pearl brought such joy and happiness to our house. Pearl was from the animal shelter and from the moment she arrived she was so happy to be in a fenced yard with loving people and two big dogs that quickly adopted her for her playful ways. We could not have loved her more. But just tonight a stranger came to our door and said a little puppy was lying dead in the street. That street is Fernhill Drive. Our beloved puppy, which was a constant source of joy, had been killed, run over. She’d somehow gotten out of our fenced yard for just a couple of minutes. The driver didn’t stop. My wife, her son and I are utterly heart broken. How she got out of our fenced yard is not clear. We, of course, accept responsibility for her getting out but in my grief I know there is a larger issue.
For years, I have been outraged by the speeding in front of our house at Boniface and Fernhill and have spent hundreds of hours trying to get this city council, this police department and this public works department to do SOMETHING to stop the speeding. Three years ago, after being given a personal inspection of the successful and extensive speed hump program in Portland, Oregon, I created petitions and took them to every house on Fernhill and Dume Drive to attempt to install speed humps on these busy streets. I got over 65 percent of the residents on Fernhill to agree to speed humps and they even agreed to pay for them! A majority of Dume residents signed on as well.
The residents of any residential street should be able to decide on what is right for their street. It is past time for the residents of these two Point Dume streets to reclaim their RIGHT to equal safety and peace.
Speed humps and only speed humps make cars drive at 25 miles per hour. They are tested and they work. They work 24 hours a day, everyday. They work every hour you need them, not occasionally like a patrol car. A very vocal group decided they couldn’t tolerate the humps on this street. The majority of them didn’t live on these streets, they just didn’t want the inconvenience. Why in God’s name can’t we have 25 mile per hour speed limits in this residential neighborhood? Are the neighbors so busy they can’t slow down? Every day the cars race by our house. They go right over the double yellow lines and honk at us as we attempt to leave our driveway. Forty miles per hour all day and night. People view Fernhill and Dume as a county road not a residential street. This city has allowed that to happen. I am determined to change that.
I called Sergeant Mach just last week to request a police presence on this street. He’s our head policeman and he strongly favors the use of speed humps. He can only offer a couple of hour’s vigilance and speeding tickets per day out here. He’s only got six patrol cars at any given time for the whole of Malibu. I’ve called Chuck Bergson at public works for years about what he plans to do to slow the speeding. He keeps assuring me he’s got some plans that are being studied, considered, voted on. He’s well intentioned but he’s hamstrung by committees and several individuals on the public works that are flat out opposed to change.
My neighbors and I have put up signs begging people to slow down but they don’t’ and they won’t, unless we install those humps, put in roundabouts, narrow the streets, whatever it takes. We need full time enforcement. Cities across America use these measures. Why don’t we? Do I think the cops can stop the speeding with their total of six cars for all of Malibu? Not for a minute. I’ve been to the city council numerous times, left them information about speed humps and other traffic abatement methods, methods that work around the clock to slow traffic.
Have any of the council members come to observe at 8 a.m. as the SUV’s speed to the elementary school to drop off their children or when the commuters come flying down the street on their way to their quiet side streets somewhere on the Point or when the AA members race in to make their meetings? Never once! They only seemed truly committed to bringing more development to Malibu, more traffic. That is all they seem to really give a damn about. What about public safety for God’s sake?
I washed Pearl’s blood off the street tonight. She is gone. We will miss her terribly. We loved her. Do I harbor any prospects for the City Council to address the speeding on Point Dume? Only if the families on this Point decide that they want to impose sanity on these residential streets will that happen. If we can’t unite to accomplish something so basic as safe streets what can we achieve? Please don’t tell me a child has to die to finally get a grip on speeding on Fernhill and Dume Drives. Hell, this time it was only a precious, beautiful, little puppy.
Bob Carmichael