I’ve been to Olvera Street numerous times. The elderly driver I referred to was involved at a street fair in Santa Monica if memory serves correctly. I also mentioned the barricades needn’t have been K-Rail.
Your reply to me contains statements which serve as roadblocks to increased safety in-so-far as giving arguments as to what prohibits doing what needs to be done. If you want to get down in the weeds about this we can but let me first inform you that for eleven years I was involved in the planning and placement of barricades meant to avoid incidents of this type specifically. No. I wasn’t in the barricade business. I was involved because I had the ability to think and implement a successful multi-layered traffic plan. And yes, we had incidents with intoxicated drivers operating vehicles at high speed approaching the barrier. We were lucky in the respect they were stopped and no deaths or injuries were incurred. Bear in mind that many of the aforementioned deployments extended a mile or more not all being in a straight line.
There was a motorcycle destroyed which was placed to block traffic.Where was the officer? Was he watching the parade? Did he have a radio? Did he warn of the impending disaster? Was his position stationary or was he moving from block-to-block as the parade progressed? Could he have been placed a block away from the parade and been more effective without the distraction? Were barricades of any other type deployed? So many questions unanswered. How many were asked in preparation for the event? You admitted you didn’t think this might occur. Why not? Do you go through your day without forethought to safe practices in the activities in which you engage?
At the outset I mentioned trepidation related to the appropriateness of placing my original reply on this thread so as not to detract from the expressions of condolence. But I also felt safety procedures should be mentioned and addressed toward awakening others to consider the needs in their own lives for increased efforts in that regard. Since posting that comment I have had the opportunity to view a taped presentation of the incident and what I saw indicates a massive failure on the part of the planners and organizers toward addressing safety of the public at the event. Safety is paramount, yes? If not why not?
Rather than posing questions to me or raising issues as to why a thing is impossible to achieve, sit down with a map of any route of your choosing and solve the questions you pose using the gray matter you were given. It isn’t as if you have never seen a street closure before. And while you are at it I’ll stipulate K-Rail is not part of the equation. Get back to me when you have accomplished that task. Oh, the time frame for development of that plan won’t be the twenty minute period I had to face on multiple occasions on a shoestring budget.
There are experts on this board from every discipline and in many cases multiple disciplines. One of the reasons I frequently visit this place is to learn from them. You yourself are expert in what you do. Yes?
I bring this to a close again asking “What price safety?”
I have already addressed most of this.
I want you to consider the dynamics of events like this.
You have a large parade upcoming. People are flocking to the event.
They are walking along the sidewalks before even getting to the event.
There is no way of preventing a determined individual to find a group and drive into them.
Before you even got to the big barriers, this guy could have taken out just as many people.
I appreciate your thoughts on emergency preparedness and protecting the public, but you simply cannot achieve the zero risk you seem to think is attainable.
It isn’t.
Same goes for Olvera Street, the Prominade Mall, or any other public place. There will always be people vulnerable to wanton attack.