The grey haired woman was crossing Orange Avenue at B Avenue at about 12:25 pm. The sun was shining and a gentle breeze softened the heat of the day.
The woman was just about to step up to the curb of the median that ran down the middle of Orange when the squeal of tires announced the slamming of brakes. This was quickly followed by the unmistakable shattering of headlight glass and crunch of metal against metal. The air filled with the smell of burnt rubber.
The black pickup truck had missed hitting the woman by inches. She stood frozen on the median, hand to her chest.
This could be the start of a chapter to a mystery novel or the like, but it isn’t. It was a scene I witnessed earlier today from my window seat at Bistro d’Asia where I was having lunch with my husband.
The driver of the pickup truck had been going too fast and obviously did not see the woman crossing the street until the last second. His sudden and abrupt stop was in time to prevent him from hitting the woman. But it did not give the driver of the car directly behind him enough time to stop without rear-ending the truck.
Both vehicles pulled over in front of McP’s where I could see them get out to check the damage and exchange information.
The Law
The speed limit in the village and on most Coronado residential streets is 25 mph. There are also some areas where it is 30 mph.
For everyone’s safety, look for the speed limit signs and obey them.
Common Sense
Where there are a lot of pedestrians, it may not be possible or in the best interest of safety to go the speed limit. This is especially true in the village when the sidewalks and streets are filled with residents and visitors.
Although I do not have a radar gun to tell me how fast a car is going, I can tell when one is going faster than is legal and this happens a lot in Coronado.
It happened today and everyone involved was lucky that it did not end in tragedy.
Please respect our community and drive carefully to keep us all safe.
P.S. Common Courtesy
Not a single person – either driver or witnesses stopped to ask the woman if she was okay. As we rose from the table to go out, she shook her head and finished crossing the street and disappeared into the crowd.
