Photo by Liz Frantz.
Police in Los Gatos are being followed. Kids biking around town keep an eye out for patrol cars in the area. They aren’t worried about getting in trouble, they just want a free ice cream.
The Ice Cream Coupon Program was started two years ago in an effort to encourage children to wear their helmets, as an alternative to simply ticketing kids without helmets. The positive reinforcement has been successful in two ways: getting kids to wear helmets and creating a young fan club for officers.
“I know its been a success because when I’m driving to work every kid I see is wearing a helmet,” said Scott Seaman, the chief of the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno police department.
Sergeant JR Langer detailed the success of the program to the Town Council last week during a portion of the meeting designed to spread knowledge about town services and programs: “It really makes a huge impact on both parties when someone is walking away with a ticket and someone else is walking away with a free ice cream.”
Getting kids to wear their helmets is only half the battle and last week police tackled the other half, following two deadly crashes.
The Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police, in conjunction with other Santa Clara County law enforcement agencies, took part in Operation Safe Passage last week. The program focuses traffic enforcement officers on school zones in an effort to cut down on unsafe or distracted drivers in the area. Not everyone gets a ticket, but the police presence is clear.
“Los Gatos places a premium on traffic safety,” Seaman says. “We participate every year and do as much education as we do enforcement.” School zones are hopefully a bit safer, but Mayor Diane McNutt encouraged drivers to use the recent fatal accidents in town as a reminder to slow down.
The first accident was on last Sunday and involved a single vehicle speeding down Los Gatos Boulevard finally impacting with a light pole and killing one passenger. The second involved a speeding SUV which went out of control, up onto the sidewalk, and killed a man walking his bike.
Seaman explained these accidents were “highly unique and unpredictable,” and that both had unique circumstances which could not be avoided. He believes that although both were caused by speeders, many factors went into turning these accidents deadly. Those locations don’t warrant extra patrols, he said.
Witnesses to the accident on Lark Avenue say that speeding is a problem in the area and “screeching tires” are a common sound for that intersection.
“Riding around downtown Los Gatos is pretty scary,” says Barry Gordon, president of the Los Gatos Bicycle Racing Club. The club limits the number of rides it does through town due to safety concerns and holds most of its rides in Los Altos. Gordon doesn’t blame the town of Los Gatos, though. He blames inattentive drivers and inexperienced bicyclists for accidents in town.
“Los Gatos has done enough to protect bicyclists,” he says. “Both drivers and cyclists need to protect themselves by driving and riding defensively.”
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