Boy’s Death Spurs Traffic Safety Effort

Shocked and angered by the death of an 8-year-old Simi Valley boy, neighbors have continued a campaign to slow traffic on Morley Street.

Police said Pedro Zamora, who lived next door to the boy, Cameron Cheung, was booked on suspicion of misdemeanor driving under the influence and felony hit-and-run. The fatal accident occurred Saturday after Zamora turned the corner from Sycamore Avenue onto the 2500 block of Morley Street, police said.

However, police said Zamora could not avoid hitting the child, who had emerged from in front of a parked van into the path of Zamora’s Jeep Cherokee.

Shocked and angered by Cameron’s death, neighbors have started a campaign to slow traffic on Morley.

“It has been a constant problem,” said Gina Rhoads, a parent who lives 60 feet from where the accident occurred. “I don’t let my children play out in front.”

Although many near the accident scene insist that Zamora was speeding, Simi Valley Police Lt. John Ainsworth stressed that preliminary police reports showed Zamora to be going at or near the posted 25-mph limit.

Several months before the latest accident, neighbors lobbied for speed bumps on Morley.

Four residents, led by Robin Hall, wrote a letter to Simi Valley Mayor Bill Davis requesting speed bumps, stop signs or other traffic-control devices to slow drivers.

But tests showed there wasn’t enough traffic on Morley to justify any changes, said Jim Brunner, the city’s senior engineer. To get the traffic control devices, a street has to meet criteria set by Caltrans.

The Cheung family will hold services and burial Saturday at 1 p.m. at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, Forest Lawn Mortuary in the Church of the Hills.