Waze shortcut leads angry residents to petition

SILVER LAKE, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- "It's gotten to the point where we're getting our pitch forks, and our torches and we're coming out as a community and we're saying we're not going to take this anymore," said Silver Lake resident Linden Waddell.

According to residents on or near Earl Street in Silver Lake, the traffic has become nightmarish and unsafe due to GPS apps like Waze. Earlier this month, a bus driver using Waze crashed into multiple parked cars.

Earl Street resident Morgan Blair says that this is their new normal, "Every car I've ever owned that I've parked on this street has been hit a minimum of 1 to 4 times and one car in particular has 31 hits on it."

These residents are so fed up that they've created a petition that will hopefully make the small, narrow street a quiet one again. They've even launched a YouTube channel to document the issue.

"We have a petition that we are circulating to the stakeholders of Earl Street and we hope to get enough signatures to find consensus to what we would like the city to do to take proactive measures to mitigate this traffic gridlock," said Waddell.

In the petition, residents are asking for speed bumps, "weight limit" traffic signs to stop large vehicles and "no turn" signs that will stop cars from turning onto the street during rush hour.

"We can't get everything changed but just some change would be nice," said Blair.

In part, Waze says it's committed to partnering with cities and will update its maps to reflect new traffic and road signs.

"Waze is entirely committed to partnering with cities and will update its maps to reflect legal traffic and road signage. That being said, Waze is not designed for charter buses or oversized trucks so we encourage drivers to take into account their local driving laws, signs and vehicle restrictions when making decisions on the road," said a spokesperson from Waze.

In order for these changes to be considered, at least 67% of the neighborhood must agree with proposals in the petition.