Georgia's rise in pedestrian fatalities--AJC (Buford, Austell: camper, live, dangerous)

[toll_booth]

Rise in pedestrian fatalities in Georgia puts spotlight on safety *| ajc.com

I have mixed feelings about this.

On the one hand, there are not nearly enough crosswalks in the areas that need them. High-volume, multi-lane roads such as Austell Road, Buford Highway, Candler Road, and South Cobb Drive, to name a few, have a marked lack of crosswalks. This encourages people to dangerously cross roads where cars can easily be found going 55-60 mph, and even when walking at a good pace, it can take about half a minute just to get to the other side.

However, sometimes people will not use crosswalks, even when they are readily available. We've all seen people jaywalk across large roads when they are just a short walk away from a signaled crosswalk. That's dangerous, and if something bad were to happen, it would be on the pedestrian.

I think the solution is going to come down to a combination of both better crosswalk design and pedestrian education. There needs to be more community activism to make people understand that, if they choose to cross a major road, they are taking a dangerous risk if they do not use a crosswalk. Whatever cultural or personal hangups people have against using crosswalks need to be addressed as well.

At the same time, there needs to be a serious investigation as to where crosswalks are needed, and what kind of signs and signals should be erected. One new design that has gone up on a South Cobb road that shows a lot of promise is the HAWK signal: It has a somewhat different physical configuration than a standard traffic light does, and when the crosswalk changes from the white pedestrian to the flashing orange hand, the traffic light changes from steady read to flashing red. This means that as soon as the pedestrians are out of the way, cars can go again, yet pedestrians maintain right-of-way until the red light is off.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by toll_booth

However, sometimes people will not use crosswalks, even when they are readily available. We've all seen people jaywalk across large roads when they are just a short walk away from a signaled crosswalk. That's dangerous, and if something bad were to happen, it would be on the pedestrian.

It's the truth. I had to run up to the Pep Boys on Buford Highway yesterday and it was about 8:00 pm by the time I got out of there.

Two women and their little kids (four of them, all of whom looked to be under 5) were crossing the highway about 150 feet south of the crosswalk. It scared the daylights out of me. I was going to stop and try to assist them, but they scampered on across.

Very, very dangerous, especially at that time of day.

[shivtim]

Originally Posted by toll_booth

I think the solution is going to come down to a combination of both better crosswalk design and pedestrian education.

God forbid there be any driver education. I can't tell you how many times I've seen pedestrians who were crossing in a crosswalk (legally) that were almost hit by drivers who were breaking the law.

[gapowermike]

Nowadays you have to assume drivers are going to mow you down. Phones were enough of a distraction...add texting, web surfing and facebroke and you've got a recipe for disaster. Not to mention the pedestrians are using the same devices and darn near as distracted.

Encourage your loved ones to put it down until they get where they're going. It could save their life.

[JoeTarheel]

Originally Posted by shivtim

God forbid there be any driver education. I can't tell you how many times I've seen pedestrians who were crossing in a crosswalk (legally) that were almost hit by drivers who were breaking the law.

There has to be some responsibility placed on both drivers and pedestrians...sometimes one is at fault, sometimes it's the other. Both need to be aware of what's going on around them for any number of reasons, but staying alive is the top priority.

[Lady's Man]

there is something about driving a car that makes people very impatient.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by Lady's Man

there is something about driving a car that makes people very impatient.

Part of it has to do with the fact that you could be a measly little wimp in real life but once you get behind two tons of steel with 350 hp, all you have to do is step on the gas to be a BA.

[toll_booth]

Originally Posted by shivtim

God forbid there be any driver education. I can't tell you how many times I've seen pedestrians who were crossing in a crosswalk (legally) that were almost hit by drivers who were breaking the law.

True. That does need to be included as well.

[LynnHarris]

Originally Posted by shivtim

God forbid there be any driver education. I can't tell you how many times I've seen pedestrians who were crossing in a crosswalk (legally) that were almost hit by drivers who were breaking the law.

I have seen this happen many times in downtown (near Peachtree Center) and midtown.