Residents in Pacific Beach are renewing calls for traffic safety improvements in their neighborhoods after the tragic death of a child last weekend.
Six-year-old Hudson O’Laughlin was riding his bike on the sidewalk of Pacific Beach Drive. He was crossing an alleyway when he was hit by a car turning down the alley.
The driver fled the scene, according to San Diego police. Tiffany Sanchez was booked into county jail on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter, hit-and-run resulting in death, and driving without a license, Lt. Ceasar Jimenez said.
As the community mourns, neighborhood groups are pushing for proactive solutions from the city.
“We've been asking the city for support and funding and helping us install infrastructure that will help calm the traffic and make more people comfortable,” said David Cuthell of the neighborhood group Beautiful PB.
“We want to address problem areas and unsafe behavior in areas before someone gets hurt. Not after,” said Katie Matchett, another member of Beautiful PB.
That’s the goal of San Diego’s Vision Zero Strategic Plan. It was adopted in 2015 with the intention of eliminating all traffic deaths in the city.
But in 2022 and 2023, there were more traffic fatalities in San Diego than in 2015 when that goal was adopted.
San Diego City Council President Joe LaCava, who represents Pacific Beach, said he understands the need for safer streets.
“I'm all in with the community. We've done a lot of conversations with (the) community to try to be responsive to the Vision Zero ideas, the traffic calming,” LaCava said. “We tested safe, slow streets out there on Diamond Street. Built a roundabout. More roundabouts are planned on the more commonly used streets along Crown Point."
“I'm still fully committed (to) that within the resources that we have to make it safer for everyone,” he added.
But those resources are limited. Less than 5% of the $125 billion in the San Diego Association of Governments’ Region Plan is expected to go towards building safe bike lanes around the county and completing the regional bike network.
Pacific Beach Drive, where O’Laughlin was killed, is part of the PB Pathway. The network of roads is intended to show where it’s safe to ride a bike around town.
But the pathway doesn’t include the type of physical infrastructure that the city’s own Vision Zero strategic plan says will enhance safety.
Speed bumps, center medians, lower speed limits, and traffic circles at intersections are all included in the Vision Zero plan, but haven’t been built on the PB Pathway.
This is due in large part to the pushback leaders receive when they do build traffic calming infrastructure.
“Pacific Beach went through an era, maybe 10 or 15 years ago, where they said, 'let's put the little traffic circles in the residential neighborhoods,'” LaCava said. “If I'm not mistaken ... I think every one of them got removed.”
On Diamond Street in Pacific Beach, traffic calming measures that were introduced in recent years have since been removed.
As leaders grapple with how to improve safety without angering too many drivers, lives like Hudson O’Laughlin’s hang in the balance.
A GoFundMe has been set up to support Hudson’s family.
