Decreased speeds on tap for some Goleta schools

BY COLBY FRAZIER
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

Next time someone cruises through a school zone going 25 mph, they better check to make sure they’re not anywhere near the City of Goleta, where four schools are expected to be the first to decrease the speed limit to 15 mph.
The speed change is part of Assembly Bill 321, which was drafted by Assemblyman Pedro Nava and was signed by Gov. Schwarzenegger Wednesday.

Nava celebrated the passage of the bill yesterday at Foothill Elementary School, where he was joined by law enforcement, school officials and advocates for Safer Routes to School.
“Anything we can do to make it safer for children to get to and fro to school is a noble cause,” Nava said. “15 mph makes a big difference in the kind of injuries sustained if a child is struck by a vehicle.”
Nava said the law change is optional and can be adopted on a case-by-case, school-by-school basis. He said it will be up to communities throughout the state to lobby their local leaders to implement the law in various school zones.
Nava announced the signage for the four Goleta schools scheduled to undergo the speed change will be paid for by the City of Goleta.
Kirsten Deshler, public information officer for the City of Goleta, said the four schools that will most likely undergo the speed change are Brandon, La Patera and Kellogg Elementary Schools and Goleta Valley Junior High.
The law will allow the speed to be reduced to 15 mph within 500 feet of the school, and the school zone will be extended by 500 feet to 1,000 feet.
“I’m thrilled about this legislation,” said Kathleen Boomer, superintendent of the Goleta Union School District. “It’s an opportunity to really ratchet down traffic around our schools.”
Sgt. Greg Nordyke of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department, said before the law change can be considered, schools have to undergo a qualifying process. Nordyke said one of the qualifications mandate that a school must be located within a designated residentially zoned area to be considered.
Nava argued that the need for such a law is “common sense.” Literature distributed by Nava yesterday coined pedestrian fatalities as the third leading cause in California of injury and death for children under the age of 15.
An Assembly Bill 321 fact sheet says a pedestrian struck by a car traveling at 40 mph has a 15 percent chance of survival, while a person struck by a vehicle going 30 mph has a 55 percent chance of survival and an incident at 20 mph gives the victim an 85 percent chance of survival.
“Given these statistics,” the fact sheet says. “There is a great public interest in ensuring that school areas are safe for pedestrian travel, particularly for children.”
Along the fence at Foothill Elementary School is a picture of Jake Boysel, who was struck and killed while riding his bicycle to La Colina Junior High last year. Boysel graduated from Foothill and Nava noted the role the 12-year-old’s death played in spurring the bill.
“There’s no question in my mind Jake and his family played a role in this,” Nava said, adding that he has a 19-year-old son. “As an elected official I have an obligation to do everything I can to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”