Two recent accidents on La Jolla Boulevard — both involving suspected impaired drivers — have prompted Bird Rock residents to seek heightened police patrols and stricter traffic regulations. Community members discussed options for improving the safety of the streets during a meeting of the Bird Rock Community Council (BRCC) on Sept. 7. One of the accidents involved an allegedly intoxicated transient, who is accused of seriously injuring three teens and two adults after driving onto the sidewalk and into Cass Street Café on Aug. 15. Then, on Sept. 1, another accident occurred when an allegedly intoxicated driver struck several parked cars near the Seahaus condominiums. Audience members at the BRCC meeting cited at least two additional, similar accidents in previous years. BRCC president Joe Parker said one of the group’s traffic subcommittees has been working to address unsafe driving in many forms. “Unsafe driving in our neighborhood is a primary and major concern to me as president,” Parker said. “It is something I have addressed with the community at many levels in an effort to heighten awareness about obtaining self-enforcement of poor driving habits, increased police enforcement and also the potential deployment of infrastructure such as medians, striping, additional stop signs and traffic signals that may be necessary to address the problem.” Despite the recent high-profile incidents on La Jolla Boulevard, Parker said he does not believe the street is unsafe. “The Boulevard handles about 20,000 cars per day,” he said. “Notwithstanding these recent incidents, I’m not aware of a disproportionate number of accidents that occur here. However, I do have concerns about the way people negotiate the boulevard and other residential streets in what I believe is an unsafe manner.” In addition to requesting added police patrols, Parker urged community members to obey speed limits and stop signs and to avoid driving while impaired or while being preoccupied with cell phones and other distractions. Erin Demorest, a representative for District 1 City Councilwoman Sherri Lightner, said Lightner’s office has asked police to increase patrols of Windansea Beach and the Bird Rock area, “specifically on La Jolla Hermosa Avenue near the ‘Rancho Relaxo’ house where transients have been known to gather.” “We’ve received confirmation from the police department that the increased patrols have already begun,” Demorest added. Parker said he had already noticed the improvement. “It appears to me that there is an increased police presence not only on La Jolla Boulevard but on residential streets,” Parker said. “We’re also grateful that the beach unit of the [San Diego Police Department’s] Northern Division has been stepping up patrols to deal with what appears to be criminal vagrancy and other related crime issues in our neighborhood.” Parker said the recent accidents, especially the one on Aug. 15 collision involving injuries, should serve as a wake-up call to community members. “The horrible realization that came out of that incident is that it could have been any one of us or our families,” Parker said. “In a flash of a moment, life can dramatically change.”