Q: On far too many days, I read about pedestrians being hit and killed on local streets at night. What can be done to curb this troubling trend?
Mary Francis and many more
A: Six pedestrians have been killed in San Jose since Jan. 1, five of whom who were not in crosswalks when they were hit.
Colin Heyne, spokesman for the City of San Jose, had this to say:
“Every traffic death is a tragedy, but when the victim is walking, riding a bike, or has mobility challenges, it is even more appalling. We certainly want people to use the crosswalk, and to that end have been improving crossings across the city with high-visibility paint, upgraded pushbuttons, and leading pedestrian intervals, where a person walking gets a head-start before the light turns green for drivers. In a few places, we have installed fencing to make it more difficult to cross the road outside of a sidewalk.
“Everyone has a role to play to improve safety. The National Highway Transportation Safety Agency has good pedestrian tips at https://www.nhtsa.gov/road-safety/pedestrian-safety. For San Jose, with many long stretches of roadway without marked crossings, walking safety tip #5 is important to consider:
“If a crosswalk or intersection is not available, locate a well-lit area where you have the best view of traffic. Wait for a gap in traffic that allows enough time to cross safely; continue watching for traffic as you cross. And for everyone driving a car, the agency’s first tip for drivers is crucial: Look out for pedestrians everywhere, at all times.
“This is especially important in San Jose, where high-speed streets and expressways travel past shopping centers, schools, hospitals, and trails.
“The #1 known cause of traffic deaths in San Jose is speeding by drivers. That is why so much of our work focuses on ‘calming,’ engineer-speak for slowing traffic. Lane reduction and re-sizing, signal retiming, bike-friendly frontage lanes, and landscaping in medians all work toward slowing drivers, which makes collisions less likely to be deadly.
“Many of your readers write in to question the benefit of these treatments, but I think we can all agree on the importance of protecting human life.
“San Jose was built around the desire to move people quickly in cars. That goal is inherently in conflict with the need to allow people to walk and bike safely. We’re working to rectify that problem, but it takes time.
“In the meanwhile, we are developing educational campaigns to address the most egregious behavior.”
In addition to what Colin advises, know that crosswalks can give a false sense of security as pedestrians may think it makes them unlikely to be hit.
Look for Gary Richards at Facebook.com/mr.roadshow, or contact him at mrroadshow@bayareanewsgroup.com.
Source: www.mercurynews.com