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Speak Out
Carriers cause hazards
Here's a question for you--What do you suppose would happen if you or I or any other citizen parked a car in the middle of a traffic lane on El Camino Real and walked away? How long before the car was cited and towed? Maybe half an hour? Why? Because it's illegal to park in traffic, right?
Well, if that's true for Joe and Jane Q. Public, why are the car dealerships along El Camino allowed to park, not one small car or even an SUV, but huge car carriers, day after day, directly in the middle of the right lane?
This is a very dangerous situation. The carriers are not even coned off most times, and drivers are forced to either come to a dead stop or make a very abrupt lane change.
As anyone who commutes on El Camino Real knows, it is a busy three-lane road, with most drivers traveling over the speed limit and making frequent lane changes. To come upon a sudden obstacle in the middle of the lane is frightening and disconcerting.
I have called the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety (DPS) to complain about car carriers illegally parked and was told that the carrier driver is cited whenever there is a complaint. I do not feel that this is an adequate response.
The drivers are delivering at the request of the car dealerships. If anyone is cited, it should be the dealerships who apparently want the high profile that being on El Camino Real affords, but do not want to shoulder the cost of buying or leasing an adequate portion of land to safely and legally unload their cars.
I think that if there were real consequences involved, i.e., a hefty fine for every infraction plus a threat to the dealerships of non-renewal of their business licenses, we would see a quick end to this dangerous practice. Apparently there are no serious consequences for this illegal behavior, and I fear there will not be until and unless an accident is caused.
I call on the Sunnyvale DPS, the city of Sunnyvale and the dealerships themselves to put an end to it now and find another way to get cars offloaded safely and legally.
As for myself, I will be in the market for a new car this year. I plan to actively boycott all the car dealerships along El Camino Real in Sunnyvale as a protest against their blatant disregard for driver safety.
Lisa Bail
Mountain View
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
