The pedestrian-activated flashing lights at the Old Georgetown Road crosswalk by Cordell Avenue in Bethesda have been operational for several months. Everyone has had a chance to get used to them by now. So, are they working? Is it safer now to cross than before, and do drivers respect the lights? Let's find out:
Some do, but many don't. So you'll want to be paying full attention, as if the lights were not there to help, when you cross. Many drivers either don't respect, or don't understand the meaning of, the signals. Observing others attempting to cross after activating the flashing lights, in some cases the pedestrian had to simply freeze as cars continued to tear through the intersection and the crosswalk as if there was no signal at all. Enforcement is clearly needed, but whether the police currently have enough units to spare one here from time to time is unclear.
17 comments:
Geeze, Robert. I know you're passionate about reporting on Bethesda, but playing Frogger with live cars? Well, if things had turned out worse, it would have made an excellent report on rescue squad response times.
Glad you made it across in one piece.
Having a safer way to cross would also help businesses on the south side of Old Georgetown Rd. I notice that there is not much foot traffic on that side of the street.
And yes, just because you are at a special ped crossing, don't assume drivers will stop.
Learning
Short of bollards rising out of the asphalt when the crosswalk button is pressed, nothing will make crossing a main road in Bethesda safe. Until we stop calling drivers killing pedestrians ‘an accident’, nothing will change.
I moved to Bethesda 7 months ago and have found it to be one of the most dangerous places for pedestrians that I have lived.
@8:00AM - What "safer: way do you suggest for crossing the road, a Boy Scout?
These things are worse than useless. They give the ped a false sense of security, and the drivers just totally ignore them.
It'd be nice if PD units would at least park nearby to pretend to provide enforcement. There was an occupied cruiser that sat on the vacant fourth floor of a public parking garage for hours at a time between calls back when I lived in Silver Spring. He did it several times a week, all day long, for the entire year I lived there. Seems like a sweet gig if you like to catch Z's and arrive last to any calls for service.
Is the Cordell situation any better (or worse) than the similar pedestrian crosswalk on Wisconsin Avenue near Trader Joe's?
@9:35: I'm not sure. While having boy and (girl!) scouts around to cross the road is a good idea, it's not exactly feasible during the school year. How about making motorist who blow past crossing pedestrians do time by helping old folks across the street!.
OTOH Maybe a "safety island" in the middle of the road would be an easier sell to tptb. How about an actual traffic light?
Learning
Robert: You should put in a ticket request to have the crosswalk repainted.
@8:52, It seems improbable drivers intentionally set out to strike pedestrians --stipulating those rare cases where some nut genuinely does have bloodlust in mind and mows down people with malice aforethought. What would you prefer such events be called? Are you suggesting a simple name change will magically stop drivers from being distracted by their cell phones, radios, iPods, makeup application, sandwiches, flossing, and the six hundred other things they choose to focus on, instead of concentrating on the safe maneuvering of two-ton death machines.
Troll repellent: I'm 100% PRO-car and drive daily. It's the idiots who think their vehicles are rolling extensions of their living rooms, back yards, or a nightclub who infuriate me. Driving safely is a responsibility that requires full attention every second you are behind the wheel, as much or more so to avoid the stupidity of others as simply to operate your vehicle safely. Driving schools don't seem to teach that these days.
There is a learning curve, but I don't want Robert or anybody else to pay the price for folks learning. I've lived places in our America where pedestrians and bicyclists can depend on cars stopping. The DMV isn't one of them. Don't ever assume that the other person gives AF about you and your safety. The police can't help you other than moving you out of the roadway when you get hit.
They give the ped a false sense of security, and the drivers just totally ignore them.
These are for lazy people - cross at the green, not in between.
Or, get smushed by a car. Your Call.
@8:16 Why are they for lazy people? Nobody is suggesting "crossing in between." There is a crosswalk right there. Maryland law requires motorists to stop for any pedestrian in a crosswalk, even if it is not where a traffic signal is. Statements like yours give the --undoubtedly inaccurate-- impression you're one of the drivers who doesn't give a **** when you're behind the wheel, and just barrels down the road, everyone else be damned.
Blaming "lazy" pedestrians for exactly following the law is disgusting and disturbing.
Put up an automated camera to capture the moving violation. Add signage, flash a sign when they violate, send them a fine. Nothing enrages people more than fines…they will comply (with time) or destroy the camera system.
@5:11 --viable idea. Alternatively, drivers could just pay attention to their primary responsibility: the safe operation of their vehicles in accordance with the law.
Yeah, yeah, I know; I'm rolling my eyes as I type it. But when are there a sufficient number of signs and signals for the driver to wake from his reverie? So far, in this example, we've got:
A1. The pedestrian standing in a ready-to-cross-the-street posture at
2. A marked crosswalk with
3. Blinky lights, to which you suggest adding
4. [More] signs and
5. [More] blinky lights and
6. An --expensive-- automated violation camera system (with attendant police-required confirmation of photos and mailing of the fines)
tl;dl: I know it's a fantasy, but wouldn't it be nice if drivers just paid attention?
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