Senior Losing Sleep Over Speed Bumps Sleeps In Road To Make His Point

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) —  A Sacramento senior has hit a bump in the road getting speed bumps on the street in front of his condo and he won't put the issue to bed.

The issue is happening on Dornajo Way near Arden and Fulton on a cul-de-sac. People who live and work there say the area attracts sideshow drivers who do donuts and speed. And it's become a safety issue.

"This has gone too far," said Wayne Panepento.

Panepento is a crusader who decided to take his crime-fighting to the streets.

"You don't know my history, but they don't want to mess witha me," he said.

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This hardened marine has camped outside government offices before to draw attention to topics, but this time he really laid it on the line.

"It was a crazy thought I had.. 75-year-old man gets run over. Then maybe they'll put in the speed bumps," said Penepento.

The senior has been trying to get speed bumps on the street behind his house to protect children from dangerous drivers.

"They have enough to worry about besides getting hit by some macho wheelie-jigger out there doing crazy things," he said.

So the sound of screeching of tires in the cul-de-sac outside his condo yet again Sunday night set him off. Wayne grabbed his pillow and blanket and decided to make his bed and his point in the middle of the road.

"It was a crazy thing to do," he admitted. "I wasn't looking to get run over... but sometimes you get crazy thoughts In your head and have to call attention to it."

His neighbor's Ring doorbell camera captured this marine on a mission and his stunt stopped traffic.

"People were stopping saying what are you doing? And I said 'nothing, just laying here. I'm going to sleep.'"

Two CHP officer came to see what was going on. They sent a request to the County Roads division and Wayne went back inside.

"Things like that are not something you plan," said Wayne.

But he doesn't apologize for caring too much

"You just don't want to wake up and hear a crash out there. That isn't going to work," he said as he welled up with emotion.

A representative with the County Transportation division says two different studies were conducted in 2015 and 2016 after complaints of dangerous driving. But he said Dornajo Way doesn't qualify for speed bumps because it's 700 and not 1000 feet long and it's a dead end street.

He said when engineers conducted the study, the average speed was 26 MPH.  They ask citizens with complaints/reports of dangerous drivers to call the CHP. The CHP says it has a problem-oriented policing unit that deals with issues like this. They hosted a meeting Tues at 6 p.m. at Country Club Lanes.

If you would like to request a speed bump in your neighborhood, the Dept. of Transportation has this criterion: Write a letter with 10 signatures.

A Traffic Study will be conducted looking at speed, traffic volume and number of accidents Street Must have at least 1000 feet of right of way.

Once Study is done, if it moves forward, the original person who made the complaint will get an inclusion letter 1-2 Years for installation.