When a car's lengthy skid marks appeared on Lago Drive last week, they prompted questions.
Ken Burns asked about them in a forum posting [0] at RanchoMurieta.com. In response, Mila Carmona posted her children's harrowing encounter with a speeding car on their walk home from the school bus stop.
Carmona wrote, "A silver sedan car, driven by two young ladies (high-school age), was actually racing with another car, lost control and apparently drove straight onto the sidewalk towards my kids who were only about 15-20 feet away."
Security logs tell more of the story.
An entry for 4:08 p.m. Feb. 6 reports that two vehicles, a Honda sedan and a white minivan, were racing when the Honda "slammed on the brakes leaving 300 feet of skid marks near 17 and 18 Park Lago."
The person who contacted Security said the Honda "almost hit two or three kids and a lady who was walking her dog," according to Security Chief Greg Remson.
Security Patrol Officer Stacey Ramsey responded to the call and witnesses on the scene provided "good vehicle descriptions and good driver descriptions. That helped Officer Ramsey a lot," Remson said.
Ramsey began a search and located teenagers and cars matching the descriptions at Stonehouse Park about 40 minutes after the report came in, according to the second security log entry on the incident.
"He made contact with them and talked with them, and at first they denied having anything to do with it," said Remson. But as Ramsey continued to talk with them, the teenagers acknowledged their involvement. The Honda driver said she thought she was doing almost 50 when she lost control of the sedan as she tried to pass the van, and the driver of the van estimated he was traveling at 35 to 40 mph, Remson said.
"They were both issued (Rancho Murieta Association) notices of violation for speeding and the parents of both of the drivers were contacted," he said.
In addition to issuing the citations, Ramsey talked to the teenagers about the "what ifs." "Officer Ramsey's good at that," Remson said. "We take some time with them, explain to them ... what if you would have wrecked, what if you would have run somebody over? ... Incidents like that ... can ruin the driver's future forever, not to mention the potential (injury) to a pedestrian."