Thread: No bilingual signs at site of drowning

No bilingual signs at site of drowning

By NATHAN HALVERSON
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT


Published: Monday, September 8, 2008 at 6:41 a.m.
Last Modified: Monday, September 8, 2008 at 8:49 a.m.
The beach where a Mexican immigrant died Saturday was not on the list of the most heavily used and dangerous locations that received bilingual safety signs earlier this summer, according to state park officials.

Park rangers updated signs at 17 popular locations along the 20 miles of Sonoma Coast State Beach that present significant risk of rip tides or steep beaches where drownings are more likely.

The Bodega Head parking lot at the end of Westshore Road, near where the fatal accident occurred, still has English-only warnings.

Moyses Tinajero, a 39-year-old Geyserville resident, drowned after a wave swept him from a large rock outcropping, according to park officials and witnesses. It is not known if Tinajero could read English.

Waves of varying sizes and intervals pounded the beaches Saturday, which were crowded with people enjoying the unusually hot weather.

Tinajero and four friends went to the north side of a small beach on the head, where they scampered to the end of a 100-foot-long rock outcropping.

"The rock was in what we call the break zone, where the waves crash," said Jeremy Stinson, a State Parks supervising ranger. "They wanted to view the waves close up."

Tinajero was knocked into the water and could not escape, despite several rescue efforts by his friends and others. Passengers in a passing boat eventually pulled Tinajero out. Attempts at CPR failed.

The state park system will look into putting Spanish warnings at Bodega Head, Stinson said.

"We have already put new ocean safety signs that include warnings in Spanish at our most dangerous and heavily used beaches," he said. "But we have a 20-mile stretch of coast with hundreds of access points to the beach."

The beach where Tinajero drowned is not among the park's most popular, Stinson said. It is the second recreational fatality to happen in the area since 2001. The other death involved a woman falling from a cliff, and she is believed to have spoke English fluently, he said.

The bilingual signs installed earlier this summer were purchased with grant money from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Stinson said.

Tinajero leaves behind a wife in Mexico and a brother and cousin in Sonoma County, Stinson said.

Visitors to the park should always check with a ranger or lifeguard about safe areas to visit, because surf conditions change day to day, Stinson said.

You can reach Staff Writer Nathan Halverson at 521-5494 or nathan.halverson@


http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/2 ... /809080358

Excuse me, I live in the area. You don't have to speak English, your eyes tell you what is going on. Where was his friends, family. Give me a break.

Originally Posted by Gogo

Excuse me, I live in the area. You don't have to speak English, your eyes tell you what is going on. Where was his friends, family. Give me a break.

Is he illegal?

Originally Posted by WorriedAmerican

Originally Posted by Gogo

Excuse me, I live in the area. You don't have to speak English, your eyes tell you what is going on. Where was his friends, family. Give me a break.

Is he illegal?

Illegal or not, was he stupid?

Originally Posted by WorriedAmerican

Originally Posted by Gogo

Excuse me, I live in the area. You don't have to speak English, your eyes tell you what is going on. Where was his friends, family. Give me a break.

Is he illegal?

It says he's a Mexican immigrant.

They are putting bi-lingual signs in Spanish on the beaches in CA. Not in Chinese or any other language. Maybe the Chinese can see the waves, know they are dangerous, thus they aren't needed. Egads.

we can't putting up signs in every language, in every spot, that might be a problem. i think a better solution is, if you are a legal immigrant it is your responsibility to learn the language of your new country. if you are illegally here, you need to be deported. problem solved.

I am sorry the man drowned. But was he deaf and blind too? No one needs a sign to tell them that ocean waves punding down around huge rocks is dangerous.

If they don't have common sense and refuse to learn the language....heck even picture signs of no swimming isn't enough for those determined to do it......it's back to personal responsibility. There's only so much coddeling and babysitting one can do. What kills me is so many of the illegals can't read their own language anyway....posted or not. Great excuse to push the Spanish agenda...... But nothing substitutes for a brain. I lived in Florida......common destination point....I saw piucture signs and signs in English and we had tourists from all over the world.....most of which wouldn't have understood Spanish either.

I sat on that beach many a day with signs and clocks telling of high tide and low tide and saw many cars washed away because people didn't get it and took off for the day to fish or sail........Thank God there were a few "red neck Floridians" who had their gun toting trucks there to pull alot of cars out. LOL

What about bilingual lifeguards? So they can be called stupid in spanish after being pulled out.

now now jim