Crosswalk protest ignites driver fury Crosswalk protest ignites driver fury (February 11, 2004)

By David Boyce

Almanac Staff Writer

Tempers flared Friday on Santa Cruz Avenue near the Menlo Commons retirement community as angry drivers clashed with a group of protesting pedestrians exercising their right to cross the street -- and re-cross it at what they said was a decent interval.

From about 11 a.m. Friday, February 6, until sometime after 1 p.m., about 30 friends and relatives met to commemorate the one-month anniversary of the death of Atefeh "Amy" Bijan, a 75-year-old Menlo Commons resident who, on January 9, was struck by a car and killed in the crosswalk midway between the intersections of Alameda de las Pulgas and Sand Hill Road.

Last week's action echoed a similar protest staged January 16, when -- with the California Highway Patrol present -- about 50 people spent two hours crossing the street while holding signs that said "Save a life" and "Please slow down."

During the first protest, drivers waited politely then proceeded safely, though not always legally. The CHP issued at least five tickets, including three for not waiting until the crosswalk was empty. An officer eventually began directing traffic, possibly diluting the protestors' attempt to remind drivers of pedestrian rights.

CHP officers were absent on Friday, not having been forewarned, so the protestors were on their own with their signs and their efforts to cross four lanes of traffic in the middle of a quarter-mile long block. Perhaps as a result, things got nasty.

"Get the hell out of my way," a man reportedly said from his SUV while talking on a cell phone and approaching the crosswalk.

"Please be polite," Shabnam Anderson said she responded. Ms. Anderson is one of Ms. Bijan's three daughters.

"F--- you. I don't have to be polite. Get the hell out!" the man is reported to have replied.

And again. "You're going to cause an accident. Get out of the crosswalk, you bitch," a woman in a white Chevy Suburban reportedly said. "You're a piece of sh--! I'm going to call the cops and have you arrested."

"Please do that," Ms. Anderson said she responded. "I would like for them to be here." Ms. Anderson said she and her sister Sherry wrote down license plate numbers of offending drivers and had called the CHP four times, but had gotten what they said was a run-around.

The woman in the SUV was apparently successful, however. Two officers soon arrived and reportedly told the protestors they'd "had a complaint call that you were in the crosswalk."

The officers asked the protestors if they had been stopping, standing or "criss-crossing" in the crosswalk, to which they replied that they had not, that they had crossed "only when it was safe," Ms. Anderson said.

"Well, you can't do that," the officer reportedly said.

"Well, what would you have us do?" Ms. Anderson said she replied.

"I would suggest you don't cross at this crosswalk," the officer said, according to witnesses.

CHP Lt. Henry Romero arrived later and, in the presence of a reporter, said he would investigate the daughters' account. He said his unit was short-staffed and apologized for "any miscommunication that may have occurred" regarding their phone calls that day.

But at times seemed as if they were talking past each other. Lt. Romero repeatedly asked the daughters not to put themselves at risk, but they expressed resentment at what seemed to them an unnecessary lecture on safety. They were adamant that drivers were not recognizing pedestrian rights. "We want a light here," said Sherry Bijan.

County officials have said they don't have the money to upgrade the crosswalk and prefer to remove it instead.

"We'll do the fundraising," said Ms. Anderson.

"If you decide to do this again, please let us know," Lt. Romero said.

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