Getting straight to the point about Irvine Avenue

The issue is not the design of the road, but how people drive on it.

I own an SUV, travel the road every day and have yet to roll the car

and kill myself. Every injury on this roadway has been because of

some type of vehicle code violation. In the Donny Bridgman accident

and the accident last Tuesday, the victims were not wearing seat

belts. In the overwhelming majority of the accidents, I am sure there

is a speed law violation. If drivers are even 20 mph over the speed

limit, the roadway can be safe, and if they are driving at the posted

speed there should be no issue at all.

As for the Burkharts’ threat of a lawsuit against the city over

this issue, that is ridiculous. Four years ago, before they purchased

their home, Irvine Avenue should have been something they considered.

WILLIAM KARL VALENTINE

Newport Beach

My parents have lived on Heather Lane right off Irvine Avenue’s

“Dead Man’s Curve” for more than 40 years. I can remember many, many

times hearing the squeal of brakes, the rumble as a car rolled, then

the crunch as it hit a divider or wall, and then the inevitable

sirens.

Over 40 years, this “Dead Man’s Curve” subject has arisen every

few years when a particularly horrible accident takes a life or

lives. The residents express outrage, the city makes promises, and

then everything goes away until the next death on Irvine. The

“straighten out the curve” suggestion has been made numerous times

over the years, and my belief is that it will only increase the speed

on Irvine, making it a raceway straightaway. The deaths and accidents

on Irvine don’t come from the curves in the road. The deaths and

accidents on Irvine come from the excessive speed drivers use on the

curves in the road. The only thing that teaches motorists lessons are

stiff fines.

Unfortunately, a hit in the pocketbook seems to make people think

more than the knowledge of the lives lost on Irvine Avenue. If people

start seeing police on Irvine with radar guns all the time, not just

now and then, they’ll get the point, and I believe the revenue from

the tickets issued would probably be more than enough to pay for the

cost. A nice $1,000 ticket might make even a Porsche driver rethink

racing his car down Irvine.

Get the word out: You speed on Irvine, you’ll get a horribly

expensive ticket.

Hit speeders where it hurts -- the wallet.

JULIE WAHLSTEDT

Costa Mesa

I, too, am concerned by the deaths, injuries and damage caused by

the situation on Irvine Avenue. I happen to live immediately above

the spot where the woman was killed. I and many of my neighbors would

hate to see the roadway straightened and, most likely, enlarged into

a wider road. I don’t go along with the notion that the police cannot

control the speed through the curves. If they have a cop with a radar

gun at the bottom of the hill and they write ticket after ticket, I

would certainly think that the resulting fines could pay for the

enforcement.

They could have a “show of force” and have several cops working

the area at one time. People eventually get the idea that the police

mean business. The speeds are horrendous. We might be working in the

back yard and we turn around to see if a speeding car or motorcycle

makes it.

I truly believe that the situation can be improved.

MIKE SKIBBA

Newport Beach