AnonymousBy Scott Wenz, President of Cars are Basic
All three cities of south Santa Barbara County [Goleta, Santa Barbara, Carpinteria] are building Bulbout Hell/curb extensions for pedestrian safety.
This is a lie. All three have admitted to failure of these devices when directly questioned by Cars Are Basic (CAB). Additionally, the County Association of Governments and the County of Santa Barbara have stated they cannot prove bulbouts/curb extensions make pedestrians safer.
The City of Santa Barbara sent out the following “public outreach notice” quote regarding bulbouts: “The safety enhancement at the two school crossings……will improve pedestrian safety….” end quote. Since south county has a minimum of a decade of statistics and those statistics prove failure why is this lie being published? Propaganda published by the government when they know the truth. So why the lie?
Powerful anti-car street narrowing special interests are intent on intentionally causing congestion to “prove” their prejudice view of transportation.
Curb Extensions (Bulbout Hell) have failed the test of time. Bublout Hell cost a minimum of $90,000 per intersection, make wide turns difficult for vehicles, increase the speed of turns (ref: paper provided by City of SB… D. van Hengle), and interfere with First Responders. SB City is about to shut down 4 efficient stop light controlled intersections for stop signs because of repair costs, that are less than one Bulbuout Hell Intersection.
Are you going to allow Government to lie to you? Isn’t it time to call City Administrators and Elected Officials to account? Do you need more tax waste?
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This op is such a con opinion. I guarantee he need re-but in to this piece.
One is to wonder if this narrow-minded opinion ever walks a street/crosswalk. Cars are basic assumes they live in a vehicle centric world. Sorry things change from the good ole days!
Curb extensions/bulb outs shorten the distance hence the time a person is walking across the street. Do we need to study this raw logic? Shorter distance = shorter time. Does one really need to study this fact?
Curb extensions/bulb outs give the pedestrian a view around a parked car in a safer manor than wandering into a roadway. The driver sees the curb exists if they are paying attention. The pedestrian can see oncoming traffic by seeing a car before going into the vehicle travel way.
Curb extensions/bulb-outs do not narrow the roadway it narrows a intersection while still accommodating vehicle movement. This is an outright lie.
Wasn’t this the same fool on record against the roundabout at Las Positas? That works wonderfully! Transportation is more than just cars.
Do not believe all the hype coming from this op-ed. The mentality of CABS is the drill – baby – drill=cars rule!.
Thank you Dru and Rob for all you do. I for one appreciate your efforts and see the logic. Such a small price to pay for giving the power back to the people walking the street!
Mr Trump…..please read FHWA policy. They like traffic calming and bulbouts!
https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/speedmgt/ePrimer_modules/module3pt2.cfm
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/publicroads/10julaug/03.cfm
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/safety/pedbike/0104.pdf
Mr. Wenz was against the Las Positas and the Hot Springs road roundabouts. Apparenty this fellow loves his car so much that he enjoyed that extra time stuck at two of the most (formally) congested intersections in our area.
As a pedestrian, I like them. As a car driver and bike rider, I don’t mind them. Therefore, I’m in favor of them.
I personally don’t need a curb sticking out into the road to do the speed limit. I don’t like them.
We we go again. It seems that every year someone has to go on a tear about bulbouts. Yes, they are new (not so much any more) and require a new skill set but no more than that SUV/RV/wagon parked 12 inches from the curb does. Driving requires constant problem solving: what is that car doing, can I squeeze by before they shoot out of that driveway, etc. Distance over time calculations all day long. By the time you get home to your street these extended curbs are just another obstacle, another inconvenience to be navigated and dealt with. Urgh! Why can’t things just stay the way I’m accustomed to? I’m 63 and find adapting to new things, new measures and new obstacles doesn’t come as easy as it once did. So dammit, don’t change anything until I’m dead and gone.
Quite an accusation, got any facts to back it up?
Oregon study from 2005 found they were safer but with a limited number of locations probably was not definitive. I have to say that the median pedestrian island for the left turn from Portesuello onto Modoc really slows things down because if you turn too fast you will definitely run over the island. The sign they had on the island is long gone.
I hadn’t heard much about the CAB people after they swore that the Milpas roundabout would cause the end of the civilized world as we know it. And then it seemed to work just fine.
“Powerful anti-car street narrowing special interests” … Sounds like you think motorists are a marginalized group. How wide is your car, Sir?
ALL SIDES. I’m downvoting you right now because you forgot to use the apostrophe in “poster’s.” There. I feel pretty good about that.
Anything that slows down drivers and gets their attention, in order to force them to be intent on their driving, gets my vote. I’ve posted this before and I will post it again now: If it takes a person (or two) with a baseball bat at each intersection to enforce speed limits and make drivers stop trying to mow down pedestrians, I say get on with it.
I like bulbous more than I like Cars Are Basic(ally stoopid).
yes, anything that is difficult for old folks should not happen!
Horse and carriage is basic……
This from the Cars Are Basic guy who thinks women shouldn’t drive either.
Bulb outs work; they make it easier to see pedestrians and it makes roads safer. YAY! BULB OUTS!
Scott- And bike lanes don’t work either. You have to take your arguments to the feds, and get federal transportation funding shut off to the City of Santa Barbara and the County. They commit fraud every day by submitting fraudulent funding proposals to the U.S Department of Transportation.
JUL 24, 2019 12:40 PM Yes. I often think how much nicer life would be with a 25mph speed limit citywide. Drivers would relax more, residents on busy streets would be much happier. The tailgating, pushy, angry driving would stop. Tourists would be happier, too, I think. That 50mph sign on Modoc Rd. should be the first thing to go.
As a cyclist I hate bulb-outs. They frequently force me either to go out into traffic lanes or go up on to the corner sidewalk, interacting with pedestrians who might be there. Either one reduces safety.
Your logics don’t works
Horses. Bring back riding horses. And carrying single action revolvers. “Let’s ride boys!!!!” (Kicking dust.)
Cars still drive too fast and too many pedestrians hide behind telephone poles or just walk into the intersection without breaking their stride. Bulb outs are irritating, but they are no substitute for basic common sense and courtesy
If you drive through these often, or watch them, you’ll see countless cars hit them, over correct and cause driver panic on the road. They are simply out of character of every curb and turn one encounters driving the streets of California. They do not match the typical turn radius nor are they visible, so without explicit knowledge of their size and their scope, people do not know they are even there let alone that they need to take the turn wider to avoid damaging their car. I have seen hundreds of cars hit these bulb outs. Just go look at them! They’re scratched, marred and tarnished from tires, metal and scars. I have seen countless numbers of these drivers panic and either slam on their brakes or turn their cars into traffic after the sudden surprise of hitting something. So while they may have some statistical safety factor, they are much more of a detriment than a positive. A sign post would be more effective, or a orange cone. To me these types of things are what people who are tasked to find a problem come up with… “To a man with a hammer, everything is a nail”…
source for that claim?
People perched on the edge of these look nervous, as in, “Please don’t hit me out here on the Victim Perch”
From the Scott is Basic organization. Bulbs out have been in SB for a decade now that Scott has been complaining. No collisions, no crashes, no dangers, people drive around them easy. All proven exactly what the so called experts claimed. Talking about beating a dead horse. Sure but Delivery trucks hit them, delivery trucks also hit poles, signal lights, regular curbs. Bike lanes don’t work? Kind of krock of crap that comment is. Go ride a bike and tell me bike lane versus no bike lane, and report back. I have never heard from any first responders that cant drive this town? Scott please upload a video of you driving around so that we can see your driving skills. I think there is a drive school on the west side that can help you improve your steering wheel. On that note: I really love the difference of opinion that keeps checks and balances on our local government. Keep it up Scott.
slow down your damn car & pay attention to safety for all !
I do not like bulb outs, as a pedestrian or as a driver.
Bulb-outs were designed by a sadist.
While we are on the subject of cars versus pedestrians and other safety issues, I’d really like to see a 25 mph speed limit citywide. Racing down Las Positas only saves a minute or two, even less on most other streets. Slow down and enjoy the drive and life in SB.
Or you could do what the cyclist do on San Andres, just take over the whole lane and cycle leisurely along while the cars pile up behind you. Seems empowering for the cyclists.