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Pedestrian deaths in Berkeley are a public health emergency 

Editor: 

We are co-workers and friends of Jayne Ash, a 35-year-old woman, who was killed in broad daylight in a pedestrian crosswalk on March 13, 2001. Many of us also reside in Berkeley.  

As Jayne returned to her office at the California Department of Health Services with the cup of coffee she had just purchased, she was struck by a truck in the crosswalk at Hearst and Shattuck avenues. Jayne was crossing with the light.  

She had the right of way; no matter, she was killed. 

This tragedy has been referred to as an accident. But in Berkeley, where vehicles routinely and aggressively violate pedestrian crosswalks, it highlights an important public health emergency.  

Jayne joins a growing number of pedestrians killed or injured in attempting to reach the other side of the street. Less than a year ago, a pedestrian was killed only three blocks away in the pedestrian crosswalk at Shattuck and Virginia.  

The intersection of University and Shattuck, two blocks in the other direction, has been labeled the most hazardous for pedestrians in Berkeley.  

We are all pedestrians; we are all at substantial risk of trauma, injury, and death in this city’s crosswalks. Who will be the next pedestrian maimed or killed in a crosswalk? Each of us thinks it will be someone else, that these statistics are about other people. Likely, Jayne thought so too. 

At the 3/20/01 City Council meeting, Berkeley Police Department Chief Dash Butler described the skeletal crew of motorcycle officers available to enforce traffic regulations, indicating that effective enforcement of pedestrian crosswalks is not a priority for BPD.  

Although effective enforcement of the Vehicle Code is only one part of the solution, it is imperative that drivers understand that they cannot violate pedestrian crosswalks with impunity. At present, they know they can, and they do. 

Data obtained from a member of the Berkeley Community Health Commission indicate that Berkeley ranks first in pedestrian/bike injuries and deaths among 44 cities of similar size in California.  

This statistic demonstrates a public health emergency, requiring a coordinated and effective response at all levels of government.  

Who is accountable to the pedestrians of Berkeley to ensure their safety? What are the Mayor and City Council doing to ensure that this emergency is addressed, to ensure that Berkeley’s citizens and visitors are not injured or killed in its streets?  

A five-year Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Program was approved in May 2000. What is the status of its implementation? How will the effectiveness of this program be evaluated? 

It is imperative that the Council grasp the urgency of this situation. How many more pedestrians must be injured or killed to make this point?  

We have an emergency in this city, and a business-as-usual response is unacceptable. We demand that appropriate attention and resources be allocated to address this emergency. Pedestrian safety must be among the highest priorities in Berkeley.  

Jayne’s death was a tragedy, and she is sorely missed by her family and friends. We urge the Berkeley community to prevent this from happening again.  

The next pedestrian casualty could be you, a family member, a friend, or a co-worker.  

If you are concerned about your safety as a pedestrian in Berkeley, please contact your Council Member to urge the Council to take appropriate and effective action.  

You may also email the City Clerk at clerk@ci.berkeley.ca.us and request that your message to be distributed to all Council Members and the Mayor.  

In addition, when you’re driving the streets of Berkeley, remember Jayne and watch out for pedestrians.  

Joan Sprinson 

Lisa Pascopella and 22 others 

Grandfather abuelo knows best 

Donal Brown 

Pacific News Service  

My two-year-old grandson knows me by “ha, ha, ha,” a greeting we used when he recognized me before he had words. 

Now that he knows words, I am not only “ha, ha, ha,” but also “grandpa” and “abuelo0” as well. 

When I want him to give me a kiss, I say to him, “Dame un beso.” When he sings “twinkle, twinkle, little star,” it's “brilla, brilla, estrellita.”  

His first sentence was “I hit the ball.”  

He's being schooled in two languages, Spanish and English. It would have been three, but it got too hectic when Italian was added. Maybe he can learn Italian in college, like his father. 

In multicultural America, by the third generation, on average, the language of origin is lost. When I was teaching high school, the grandchildren of immigrants only shrugged when I asked if they knew Spanish, Cantonese, Polish or Italian. 

Our grandson's birthday party is at his grandmother's house and the extended Latino family is there.  

It is festive, especially the rhythmic and dulcet sounds of the mariachi. The band plays the famous song, “El Niño Perdido” – “The Lost Child” – with a distant trumpet answered by another trumpet on stage. My grandson takes some whacks at the pinata. We feast on tamales, beans and rice. 

I do not know how any of my forebears celebrated birthdays. My middle name is Flinn, but I don't think of myself as Irish. I am also descended from Mennonites, but do not participate in their culture. 

I would be like the rest of homogenized Northern European America except that I married an Italian-American and consider myself Italian by osmosis. 

Italians celebrate family ties and cement relationships with lengthy dinners.  

We tell our guests to “mangia, mangia!” – “eat, eat!” or the food will get cold. My grandson is learning to curl pasta on his fork. 

A young woman from New England who spent Christmas with us last year remarked later that she had never before spent so much time eating a holiday dinner. 

Languages preserve differences and identity and cultural heritage, but for some Americans, an unreasoning fear of strangers translates into a desire to discourage the teaching (and learning) of languages other than English.  

So the whole idea of bilingual education is under fire. 

Few students have rigorous instruction in any “foreign” language until high school. Asked if they want their children to learn English or their parents' language, immigrant parents naturally opt for English. 

However, when they are asked their opinion of bilingual programs that cultivate proficiency in both languages, parents favor those programs. 

Research has shown that in true bilingual programs, the language of origin can be maintained at no cost to English and in fact offers obvious advantages to students. 

Yet the head of my grandson's nursery school suggests the child should only speak English – apparently unaware of studies showing that bilingual children, although they may not at first perform as well as native speakers in either language, emerge not only unscathed but enriched with continued practice. 

My son and daughter-in-law will continue as before to give my grandson a bilingual education – speaking to him and reading to him in Spanish and English. 

If we give in to fears, however well intentioned, America is the loser – in richness of culture, in linguistic wealth, and especially in cohesiveness and connection. I feel happy that my grandson will be bilingual. Being able to conceptualize in two language may well make him smarter than average. 

He will certainly feel connected by two cultures, Latino and Italian, and secure in family and family traditions. 

Donal Brown taught journalism and English literature in California's public schools for 35 years.