The current qrazy-quilt of pedestrian crosswalks, signs, and blinking
lights at best have marginal effect on pedestrian safety, and in some
cases may actually make crossing the street more prone to mishap than
before
Two examples:
1) when I go jogging, I regularly use the pedestrian crosswalk at 32nd
St. and East River Road.
In the past year, only two cars have stopped for me.
Every other car has blown through the crosswalk, not aware or or not
caring about my presence.
2) I was driving on 28th Ave. near Lake Hiawatha one morning when I saw
a pedestrian at the pedestrian crossing.
I stopped for the pedestrian.
Then I heard a screaching of brakes, and a Volkswagen swerving around my
right and blowing through the crosswalk.
Fortunately, the pedestrian did not venture onto the crosswalk.
Now, even when I see a pedestrian at a crosswalk, I hesitate to stop if
I have a car behind me, for fear that the car will hit me if I stop.
At least 95% of all drivers ignore the pedestrian crosswalk signs,
including those that blink on and off all the time.
I think that with the continuing blinking lights, drivers become numbed
to their presence. At night, they may actually draw drivers eyes away
from any pedestrians in the crosswalk.
If pedestrians are more bold in crossing the road in the expectation
that drivers will stop for the signs, the risk of accident could
actually be higher than if the sign was not there at all.
I have a suggestion for safer pedestrian crosswalks.
In London, I saw pedestrian crosswalks that had two big yellow globes
on two poles, one on either end of the cross walk.
When a pedestrian wants to cross the road, she pushes the walk button,
and then, and only then, the two globes flash on and off.
The drivers are acclimated to expect a pedestrian in the crosswalk
whenever the globes blink on and off, and automatically stop.
I think this system would be much more effective than the motley
collection of signs and continuously blinking lights we have out there
now.
Writing only three blocks from the Jesse Ventura ancestral palacial
estate, located at the southwest corner of 46th Ave. and 32nd st. in
Cooper,
Jay Clark
P.S. I have never been hit by a car in one of these crosswalks.
However, I have been hit by a bike that was going 20 mph. and had just
blown through both a pedestrian crosswalk sign and a stop sign.
.
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