Scofflaws galore

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    Anyone who drives on PCH past the Las Flores light is familiar with the traffic jams which result from two lanes of cars narrowing to one to pass the construction bottleneck. At rush hours, in both directions, the delays and frustrations are inevitable until PCH returns to normal.

    Several hundred residents of the La Costa hills, dependent on using Rambla Vista to enter PCH, are living with an additional hazard — the east-going PCH drivers who use Rambla Vista as an escape mechanism to bypass the traffic jam which backs up from Las Flores to the Fire Station at Carbon Canyon.

    As early as 7 a.m. weekday mornings for hours, hundreds of eastbound PCH drivers “cheat” on more patient PCH drivers by entering Rambla Vista on the west end and literally tear up and down the hill to exit at the east end, saving perhaps five to 10 minutes. In the process they commit at least three violations. The clearly posted sign says, “Road (Rambla Vista) closed to all but residents.” A stop sign at the crest of Rambla Vista says STOP because the two-lane road narrows to one lane skirting a steep canyon. Almost nobody stops and obeys the stop sign direction. In several places speed signs caution drivers to drive no more than 25 miles an hour. Most of the “dodgers” are speeding at 40 to 50 miles to save the previous minutes, heedless of blind curves, ongoing traffic in the opposite direction or pedestrians, not to mention dogs on the leash with their owners. Several residents have told me about narrow escapes from head-on crashes as the speeders run the gauntlet daily.

    The Sheriff’s station has been repeatedly notified and has expressed concern but to date no action has been taken. Just this morning, this writer counted 31 cars running the gauntlet in the space of five minutes (360 an hour). The situation invites disaster and action by law enforcement.

    Zane Meckler