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July 14, 2008
Hollywood Boulevard: For People or Cars?
Two years ago the community joined City Council President Eric Garcetti on the Great Hollywood Walkabout conducted by Deborah Murphy who then made recommendations which included reclassifying Hollywood Boulevard to include a pedestrian priority classification. Then and today, Hollywood Boulevard is still classified and engineered as a Major Highway.
This morning, a vehicle involved in killing two pedestrians on the boulevard last night still sat in the middle of the street. The two victims were reportedly holding hands as they walked across the street. The motorist was being pursued by an LAPD traffic officer, ran a red light, struck the couple and continued down Hollywood Boulevard before he stopped and was arrested, according to the LAPD.
In addition to still being classified as a Major Highway, at issue is the immediate concerns about a police auto pursuit on Hollywood Boulevard in a community with a significant pedestrian activity. According to police, the pursuit only lasted between 45 and 50 seconds.
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"In addition to still being classified as a Major Highway, at issue is the immediate concerns about a police auto pursuit on Hollywood Boulevard in a community with a significant pedestrian activity."
As a resident of that part of Hollywood, this was my immediate thought as well. Did the police just make the situation worse with a chase on the Boulevard? Granted a Sunday night is not as busy as a Friday or Saturday, but still...
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So...the police should have just let the driver go without a pursuit?
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Yeah, I'm kinda wondering what is being advocated here as well. It seems clear that the driver, who the police originally attempted to pull over for reckless driving, was in the very obvious wrong here, not the police. What should they have done differently? Let a reckless driver drive away to possibly do damage somewhere else?
I'm also not clear on how the the classification of Hollywood as a "Major Highway" effected the situation?
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Wilcox is also the street that has a Police Station just south of Hollywood Boulevard. The significant show of force AFTER the deaths of the pedestrians demonstrates our ability to respond. (Helicopter, squad cars, lots of officers...)
Call it in, follow and apprehend when safe to do so.
Don't initiate car chases in a densely populated, popular pedestrian neighborhood.
As to Hollywood Boulevard's designation as a Major Highway, it's the Walk of Fame, it's a tourist destination, it has three Red Line stations within walking distance from each other, why the autocentric bias. Downgrade the Boulevard, give it ped amenities, treat pedestrians like the Kings and Queens that they are.
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I'm coming out of retirement to comment on this one story, as it's my neighborhood and I got a frantic phone call from my mom as she watched the news last night:
Mom: "phew. you're alive"
me: "did terrorists attack when i wasn't paying attention?"
It's a tough call to say whether LAPD made the right decision or not. Depends on how erratic the driving was. Perhaps the officers thought it was just going to be another routine DUI stop.
If I remember correctly, the officers attempted to pull the driver over at Vine and Hollywood. Vine is only what, four blocks from Wilcox? There are so many assumptions that can be made at this point. Perhaps the driver didn't realize that the cops were behind him and the cops were merely following him yelling into the bullhorn, "Pull over"
Perhaps it turned into a car chase immediately. Perhaps it turned into a car chase one block away from Wilcox.
Ultimately, engaging in a car chase on a street with major pedestrian traffic is a poor choice.
I don't think that this necessarily could have been prevented.
A question I have though, is what were the pedestrians doing at the time? Did they notice the lights and sirens and the car barreling at them and start to run? Or were they drunk and obliviously crossing the street?
I know I'm going to get major shit for this, but as a pedestrian you have a responsibility to watch what's going on and stay alert. Cars don't care about you. Cars often don't see you.
Until there are more details, it's really impossible to say who was right and who was wrong and whether LAPD did in fact improperly initiate a car chase. The only thing we can do is assume.
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You're right Kristin, there are many variables at play here. Hopefully the LAPD cameras caught a lot of this and those will be released (at least the appropriate parts).
LAPD West Traffic Division is holding a press conference on pursuits this afternoon. Hopefully more details come out.
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I agree kristinester. YA HIPPIE!
(stick around, you can avoid political discussions by not participating in them you know.)
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@jrb
it all depends on how bored I am at work :p
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i've almost hit pedestrians on hollywood blvd.- even when i'm not involved in a police chase and paying attention. it could use some right turn arrows.
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I have come close to being hit many times especially by left turning vehicles, who don't look for pedestrians but only for oncoming traffic.
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"I have come close to being hit many times especially by left turning vehicles, who don't look for pedestrians but only for oncoming traffic."
Hey, that's how I got hit crossing a street once. But it wasn't on Hollywood Blvd. And the old lady hit and ran. But I got her license plate. Police were waiting at her home when she got there.