I've often advocated for pedestrian safety measures both on this site and at Council meetings.
The signs at the Circle were a good start and I was pleased that the Borough included information in its last Newsletter in the Police Perspective section, copied below, about pedestrian crossing.
More measures need to be taken, though. I find it amazing that when crossing streets in the borough with children at my side, cars dash around us as soon as they think they have enough room to pass. Many don't give pedestrians a chance to walk across even after two or three vehicles from the same direction have gone through while a person waits on the corner. And I've witnessed several vehicles go right through an intersection with a crossing guard in the middle holding the stop sign up in the air during the school year.
Beyond any niceties or consideration, it is simply a dangerous situation when cars drive through intersections that pedestrians are in.
Creating an environment that encourages people to walk in town is good for the businesses and good for the people walking.
How do you create this environment?
People both walking and driving need to understand the law, they need to be courteous, the Borough needs to reinforce the law with clearly identifiable crosswalks (ie repainted in many cases) and signage when necessary, and finally enforcement of these laws needs to take place (as it is now happening in Bethlehem).
Consideration of the places people most often walk to or around would be a good starting point. We have some significant challenges in this regard. I've seen people trying to walk to Giant and it is very difficult to get from town across 248/191 to these stores. In the opposite direction, people should be able to easily walk to the Borough Park and this is not so easy either from Upper Nazareth where you have to cross the Broad Street Extension or from the north end of town to the gated access road to the Park. Then there are the intersections in town itself. Broad and Center is very difficult to cross because of the number of people turning from Center southbound onto Broad. Both Broad and Main at Belvidere are a challenge as is Center at New where many, including myself must cross to get to the Library. Most times people coming from the north into town making the right on Center don't even yield let alone stop. Crossing E. Walnut/Tatamy Road from Broad to Victory Lane is also a challenge. Each of our schools should have a safe walking route for children. Borough children, despite the MS being in Upper Nazareth Township are required to walk to a single point and are then bused from the HS to the MS (a topic for another day).
While the new Police Chief will have to create a list of priorities and address them on a need basis, the Borough can be planning and creating an overall strategy to implement, and I hope they do for all our sakes.
From the Police Perspective:
In these hustle and bustle times, everyone is in a hurry to get to their destination while multi-tasking along the way when they should be taking their time and slow down enough to enjoy the pleasant surroundings of this great town in which we live. Many hazards await the unsuspecting motorists who travel our streets, therefore it is very important that drivers should be aware of everything around them. As most of you are aware, there are now "Pedestrian Crossing" signs that have been placed around the Circle but it seems as though not everyone is sure of what they mean.
Section 3542 of the Pennsylvania Motor Vehicle Code states the following:
(a) General Rule:
When the traffic control signals are not in place or not in operation, the driver of a vehicle shall yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within any marked crosswalk or within any unmarked crosswalk at an intersection.
(b) Exercise of care by pedestrian:
No pedestrian shall suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and walk or run into the path of a vehicle which is so close as to consitute a hazard. Fines for violating the section above are $100.00 but more importantly, the safety of our citizens should overshadow all. In layman's terms, both drivers and pedestrians alike need to be aware of each other and learn to co-exist.
As everyone is quite aware, Nazareth has its fair share of dangerous intersections within its borders. That in itself is ample reason for all drivers to exercise caution when negotiating our streets. I encourage everyone, drivers and pedestrians both, to do their part to make 2007 a safer year for us all!
6 comments:
It's great that they are (for the time being) cracking down on not yeilding in Bethlehem. BUT, when are they going to start issuing tickets for people who carelessly walk into the street and nearly cause an accident? That seems more the problem...
A.J. is right. I can't count the number of times driving down Broad or Main Street that I have had to hit the brakes because someone decides to cross in the middle of a street, not a designated crosswalk.
This goes back to the issure of RESPECT, not just being courteous.
These people (usually adults) have no RESPECT for the law, nor for those driving on the roads.
If adults don't have RESPECT for the laws of our community, why should we expect it from the children of this community?
Before everyone jumps on the "well I don't do it" bandwagon, I am making a general comment about no individual in particular. If you don't do it, great. However, if you do, I sincerely hope that one day soon the PD stops you and gives you a citation.
I both walk and drive in town and I'm not going to defend someone walking in front of a car, but I can say on numerous occasions walking in town that impatient/inattentive drivers are more dangerous to pedestrians than pedestrians are to drivers.
If you watch any given intersection with a stop sign, you'll see most people roll through without coming to a complete stop. If they do stop, often their front tires are at the inside line of the cross walk.
I noted that I've watched cars drive through intersections with crossing guards holding up stop signs and I've also had the pleasure of crossing at a street intersection without a cross walk where a person waived me to cross infront of them. A car was behind her and one who wasn't paying attention slammed on his breaks behind that one. The individual then rolled down the window, and unleashed an expletive laced diatribe about my crossing the street infront of my children.
Why? Because he wasn't paying attention.
Is this walking in front of a car? Yes, but it was in the correct location and the driver signaled me to go.
I won't argue that one side is correct and the other is wrong, but drivers need to be more aware and one of the best ways of getting people's attention is hitting them in the pocket book.
Pedestrians are good for a community in many ways and walking is healthy for the people doing it.
You shouldn't have to be at risk crossing a street and there is responsibility on many levels, pedestrian, driver, and borough.
"...but I can say on numerous occasions walking in town that impatient/inattentive drivers are more dangerous to pedestrians than pedestrians are to drivers."
The first time I was in college, I wrote an article about the girl who got hit outside Northampton Community College (even though it got botched big time during editing.) Everyone completely ignored the fact that she could have possibly walked in front of the car and caused the accident because it turned into a "hit-and-run." This was also removed from my article.
MANY people at NCC, including the staff and faculty, believe that just because there is a cross walk (and now yield cones in the middle of the street, since the accident) that it's ok to walk in front of moving traffic. They completely ignore one of the first rules we should have all be taught as a child: Look both ways before crossing the street.
A cross-walk or yield cone does not mean a pedestrian cannot (and shout not) be held responsible just as much as a driver should an accident occur.
” These people (usually adults) have no RESPECT for the law, nor for those driving on the roads.”
I don’t want to be rude or create a stereotype, but through my own observations, with the exception of the NCC area, the majority of these adults are senior citizens.
A cross-walk or yield cone does not mean a pedestrian cannot (and shout not) be held responsible just as much as a driver should an accident occur.
In the case you are referencing above it is the driver's fault and not equal responsibility.
The law as quoted from the newsletter reads:
the driver of a vehicle shall yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within any marked crosswalk or within any unmarked crosswalk at an intersection.
Further, if a pedestrian is standing at the curb and a car pulls up to the stop the pedestrian has the right to cross the street and does not have to wait for the car to waive them through.
The driver also must wait until the pedestrian is safely across. You should not be driving your car through the moment the person crosses the center of the road, but instead once the pedestrian is on the opposite curb.
In regard to your observation, I'm not sure if you mean the seniors are walking across without looking or if they are the drivers (I'm guessing the former), but I can also say that I've observed the drivers running or rolling stop signs and not yielding the right of way are young adults and 30-50 year olds, not seniors.
I was actually referring more to "No pedestrian shall suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and walk or run into the path of a vehicle which is so close as to consitute a hazard," which was also stated above. I think people crossing the street sometimes don't realize how fast a car is actually going, and how sometimes (ESPECIALLY on a rainy or snowy day) it takes longer to stop.
Pedestrians need to realize that the world doesn't stop for them the instance they step into a crosswalk.
Don't get me wrong - I agree that drivers should be more courteous, but the law should equally apply to pedestrians as well. And let's face it, it's not enforced.
As for the seniors, I was referring to them as the ones crossing the street without looking. They are probably the most courteous drivers when it comes to crosswalk situations – they yield for just about anything, even if it’s not crossing the street!
Post a Comment