Issue date: September 15, 1999
By BARBARA WOOD
Call it 15 minutes of chaos: Twice a day Woodside Road in front of Woodside Elementary School has becomes the stage for world-class traffic jams as the parents of nearly 500 students converge at the start and end of each school day.
The addition of impatient commuters, a parking lot without enough space for everyone who wants to park, joggers, bicyclists and distracted children in the crosswalk has some people fearing it could soon also be the site of a tragedy.
"There are just more and more kids here and more and more traffic. We're just waiting for an accident to happen," says Alex Gifford, the mother of three children who lives directly across from the school.
In an effort to avoid that possibility, Woodside's Public Safety Committee has asked the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office to strictly enforce traffic laws around the school.
Deputies have obliged by spending as much time as possible at the school during busy times. And they are pulling people over for things some may not even realize are against the law -- including driving on the shoulder in order to pass on the right, or not always giving pedestrians the right-of-way.
The Sheriff's Office is also providing a community service officer to direct traffic and cross children in the mornings.
As part of the effort, one morning last week Deputy Mike McVeigh pulled over two motorists for passing on the right after they zipped around stopped traffic. He also had a serious talk with a bicyclist who zoomed through a crosswalk despite the fact that cars were stopped to let a group cross.
While the deputy was busy giving out warnings, an example of just how crazy the school situation has become took place. When a woman in a Mercedes convertible zipped out of the parking lot and squeezed into a tiny break in the stalled traffic intending to turn left, the man she pulled in front of got out of his car, banged on the woman's window and angrily told her she was about to violate the law by turning left across a double yellow line. (Deputy McVeigh says turning left across a double yellow line out of a driveway is actually legal.)
By the way -- Deputy David Flood says passing on the right is legal in certain situations, but "you can't go off the main traveled portion of the roadway," which means no crossing the white line marking the shoulder or bike path.
And pedestrians "always" have the right-of-way. Even if you're late for a six-figure deal or haven't had your coffee yet.
And, the speed limit in front of the school is 25 miles per hour, all day long.
© 1999 The Almanac. All Rights Reserved.