I have also wondered at this intersection why the walk light isn't timed such that peds and cyclists can complete crossing from the north side of Williamson to the south side of Williamson in one cycle. By the time a person reaches the southernmost pedestrian island (there are two at that intersection), the crossing lights turn red and the right-turn-onto-Willy-from-Nolen motor vehicles get a green. If the cycle was reset to delay the "green"ing of the right-turn signal by, say, five seconds, it would allow cyclists and pedestrians to cross Willy in one fell swoop, rather than being stuck on an island (and becoming tempted to jaywalk).
This may or may not have helped in the instance you describe, but I do think it would reduce the number of peds and cyclists who habitually cross against the red. If a cyclist or pedestrian perceives that the lighting system is weighted against them, they are more likely to ignore the lights. I've found that to be true among the people I know, at least. (And in my own case, if I know that the lights at an intersection sense me and will treat me like a motor vehicle, I am happy to obey them; if, however, they give me less time to cross than they would give an MV, or only turn green when a motor vehicle triggers them or when I get off my bike, walk onto the sidewalk and push a button, I am more tempted to just cross the intersection whenever traffic provides a pause, regardless of the light color.) ---- Karl K <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > That is not an intersection for the self-absorbed or > obtuse. I witnessed a near mauling of a jogger on the > machinery row corner of that intersection. The cars > heading north on John Nolan and turning east (right) > onto Williamson will usually have a right turn arrow > that does not correspond with cars heading straight > north. If you go against the walk light (when it says > "Don't Walk") at that corner, a pedestrian needs to be > extremely careful that vehicles are not zipping toward > you and legally turning right - because they have the > green arrow. Often, drivers of vehicles that are > waiting to head north will change their minds and > suddenly get into the right turn lane to take > advantage of the arrow and head east on Willy. > > Sure enough, one morning this middle aged jogger saw > that the cars heading north were stopped for the red > light and he briskly jogged right in front of this > right turning semi. The semi stopped with about 3 > feet to spare between him and mid-life-crisis-jogger. > The jogger behaved the same way as the bicyclist you > saw, like nothing happened. > _______________________________________________ > Bikies mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies
