Slow Down!: Vacaville Grassroots Campaign Puts Brakes On Speeders
VACAVILLE (CBS13) — A grassroots campaign organized by residents of one Vacaville neighborhood is aimed at getting speeders to slow down.
The cars don't stop on Buck Avenue. If anything, they go a little faster, and Sonia Rodriguez is tired of it.
The speed limit is 25 mph, but some drivers like to go upwards of 40 mph.
"It was making us quite uncomfortable, especially when you got little kiddos running around."
Vacaville Police Lt. Ian Schmutzler says this stretch of road faces a combination of issues.
"This particular block sits between two major thoroughfares, so I think as people go from one ot the other, they don't realize they are driving through a residential neighborhood."
And that was clear, as CBS13 watched drivers speed through the area. Since January, they've issued almost 50 citations for speeding.
So out of frustration, residents came up with a plan: They came together and designed bright yellow signs hoping drivers will notice and hit the brakes.
"It's a collective effort. We went door by door asking people if they would be more than happy to allow us to do this. Everybody was on the same page."
Sonia partnered with her neighbor, Cal Ross, to find a way to curb the speeders. More than a dozen homes display the signs. And it's worked.
"I think that people that care do slow down."
The signs aren't up all the time.
"You can't have a sign up forever. it's kind of like the 25 mph speed-limit sign. It's been there a long time, people don't read it much anymore."
The effort has been going for two years now, with neighbors only putting the signs up a few times a year.
