Warning signs ignored

A systemic oversight failure was likely a major factor in a tragic San Carlos crash that left a child dead and his two siblings injured. 

Andrew Olsen and his two sisters were crossing Jackson Dr. from Lake Badin Ave. on their way to Pershing Middle School when they were struck by an eastbound vehicle. Officials have ruled out both speeding and driving as potential causes of the crash, which came amid a national increase in pedestrian deaths.

But you can’t do any job well without the right tools, and some community members say they never had them to begin with – in fact, they say, the city spent years overlooking their concerns about Jackson Drive.

It does seem that driving is more fraught these days than it was even a few years ago, but I’m never sure whether that’s because drivers are actually getting worse, or because these are the normal complaints that someone getting older has about dangerous drivers. I can say that I’ve noticed an alarming increase in truck size, which leads to an increase, it seems, in the size of driver blind spots.

Whatever the reasons, it was one of at least three fatalities in the same general area within a week. My thoughts are with the San Carlos and La Mesa communities.

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