Concerned for safety at public special events on city streets in light of the farmers market tragedy in Santa Monica, Calif., the city council voted Wednesday to form a task force to study ways to protect residents.
Ten people died and dozens more were injured two weeks ago when an elderly man careened his car through a crowded farmers market.
According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, some 2,500 events on public streets are held each year in Los Angeles—an average of seven a day—and about 80 percent of them have no barricades to protect pedestrians from wayward cars.
Santa Monica City Councilman Dennis Zine said that he was concerned that “a little horseshoe and a couple of cones” did not serve as ample protection for the public, the Times reported. Council members also said they wanted to study the costs of closing streets for special events.
