A 10-year-old Santa Ynez boy is recovering tonight after the California Highway Patrol says he was hit by a drunk driver while riding his bike over the weekend.
It happened on a street many neighbors say was dangerous to begin with.
“It makes my blood boil and it’s unacceptable,” said Santa Ynez resident Christina Whippo.
“Santa Ynez does not have sidewalks so it’s concerning for parents to be trusting our kids to go to school or a soccer game or football or baseball game at a local school, walking or riding their bikes there. We can’t trust them to be safe if there’s no sidewalks,” said Sarah Gonzalez, Santa Ynez resident.
Whippo and Gonzalez say roads like Faraday and Cuesta are so dangerous with cars speeding by, they don’t let their children ride their bikes at certain times of the day.
“We don’t really (let them ride) on Saturday morning anymore because of the activity going on in the streets. It’s so busy,” Gonzalez said.
“In the morning, the kids now want to ride their bikes and they do have to leave earlier before all the parents come down because this street is a through-way for two schools in the neighborhood and it seems like a lot of the parents do haul,” Whippo said.
They’d like to see the county make improvements like adding speed bumps and sidewalks to feel safer.
“What would be helpful on these busy thoroughfare streets is to have some speed bumps or another stop sign, a crosswalk, crossing guard, some sort of mechanism that alerts drivers that they need to slow down and take their time,” Gonzalez said.
KSBY reached out to the family of the 10-year-old who was hit. They tell us he has a broken finger and several scrapes and bruises but is expected to be okay.
Santa Barbara County Public Works Department tells KSBY they will review the collision report from this accident and determine “whether the street should receive further analysis for possible improvements.” They encourage people to send them ideas for road improvements via email at
pwweb@countyofsb.org or by visiting their website at www.countyofsb.org/pwd and clicking on the envelope icon in the upper right corner.
