Month: May 2010

B’ Spokes: In the following article it looks like Anne Arundel County Police are going to get tough on motorists.

"Annapolis police Officer Eric Davis writes a citation for running through a stop sign. Davis, one of the biggest ticket writers in the department, said tickets make the roads safer and make motorists pay attention while driving."

But listen to what people are saying in the comments, again any wounder why we have one of the highest pedestrian fatality rates, it simply is a non-issue for police.]
****************************************************************
Crosswalks – 2010-05-11 13:33:13

Living in the City Dock area I don’t see motorists stopping for pedestrians in crosswalks as being a problem. Traffic, low vehicle speeds, and the large number of people walking around seems to prevent a problem. I am however amazed at the number of people who just feel they can cross Main Street wherever they want to whenever the want to.

Once outside of City Dock there is a big problem with motorists not stopping for pedestrians in crosswalks. Less traffic, higher vehicle speeds, and longer crosswalks pose a problem. I routinely cross the Taylor Ave. crosswalk (Naval Stadium to DNR and Court bldgs) and it is surprising the number of motorists who will not stop to allow pedestrians to cross. Since I have 0 trust that a motorist will stop for me I never start walking onto the crosswalk assuming they’ll stop. Instead I’ll sit there as 5, 10, 15 cars sometime pass before someone allows me to cross.

And the next time I see an officer pull over someone blowing through a crosswalk at this location will be the first even though officers are routinely sitting at that intersection looking to turn onto Taylor. I can recall at least 10 times a motorist(s) has blown through a crosswalk with an officer sitting right there doing nothing. The most unbelievable occurrence was when two police cars were at the intersection and a car that was far down Taylor Ave. barely in sight when we started crossing actually sped up and and wheeled far into the other lane just to get around those of us halfway across the street. They did nothing about it. Guess it’s not worth their time.

Jim Dandy – Annapolis, MD
****************************************************************
crosswalks – 2010-05-10 16:36:26

I couldn’t agree with you more, I enjoy a nice walk around Annapolis. At times I feel I have a bulls-eye stamped on my back for motorists to run me over. I could retire with just the amount of money I could get writing tickets in the pedestrian walkway in front of the police station where people drive 40-45 in a 25 mph zone and slam on there brakes as I cross.

Kevin Gallimore – Annapolis , MD
****************************************************************
crosswalks – 2010-05-10 15:02:25

One area the Annapolis police enforcement gets an F grade is in pedestrian safety. Few motorists give the right of way to pedestrians. For example, try crossing the street at the crosswalk at city hall, or on West. st. at park place. On the other hand,at the Ann Arundel Community College, motorists give pedestrians the right of way near 100% – Annapolis city, perhaps 8%. If enforcement is an active program, eventually the habits of motorists will change as AACC has shown.

Demetrios Fotos – annapolis, MD
****************************************************************
What to do when you see red, blue in the rearview
By LISA BEISEL, Staff Writer

…
County officers issued 15,368 tickets for moving violations in 2009. They also gave out more than 50,000 warnings. In the city, officers issued 7,686 tickets in 2009. So far this year, they’ve handed out more than 1,500.

During two separate ride-alongs with county and city police veterans, The Capital gathered tips on how to avoid getting pulled over – and what to do when you are.

It sounds cliched, but you can avoid a lot of headaches by simply paying attention and obeying the speed limit, traffic signs and lights.

Officer Eric Davis, a 16-year veteran of the Annapolis Police Department, said most of tickets he hands out are for simple traffic violations.

People don’t pay attention when they’re driving. A stop sign means all four wheels stop, he explains. Turn signals should be used whenever you’re turning. Many mistakes like these go back to what you learned in driver’s ed.
…
Speeding accounts for about half of the tickets he issues. Most of the time, it seems like people are just in a hurry.
…
Continue reading “Ready for ticket time?”

RANDALLSTOWN, Md. (WJZ) ― In the past six years, Baltimore County has invested $4 million in making roads safer for pedestrians.

But, as Mary Bubala reports, now they need people to do their part.

One couple stepped out in front of cars, trying to cross four lanes of traffic on a busy Monday afternoon on Liberty Road. They ran quickly to avoid a car at one part. It’s jaywalking and it’s dangerous. County officials gathered not far away want to put an end to it.

"In Baltimore County, you are far more likely to die from a traffic accident than you are a victim of a homicide. While crime is down in Baltimore County, we have experienced a slight increase in pedestrian-related traffic fatalities in the past three years," said County Executive Jim Smith.

Baltimore County launched its pedestrian safety campaign in Randallstown, specifically at the Liberty Road corridor which sees a high number of traffic accidents each year involving pedestrians.

"Failure to cross at a signalized intersection–we see that along Liberty Road and frankly throughout the county each and every day when the crosswalk is but feet away," said Baltimore County Police Chief Jim Johnson.

County statistics show pedestrians are often the ones causing the crashes by taking dangerous chances by crossing the street in the middle of it, instead of at crosswalks.

"Of our total fatal crashes in the county, the majority of these crashes are, in fact, pedestrian error. The pedestrian was at fault in 82% of these cases," Johnson said.

Police are now going to focus on enforcing basic traffic laws and ticket people failing to obey pedestrian control signals or failing to yield the right of way to a car when outside a crosswalk.
******************************************************************************************
[B’ Spokes: I already covered the problem of drivers not yielding to pedestrians in crosswalks but let’s look at some other problems. One is drivers that block crosswalks when they are stopped, two is drivers so focused on making a right on red they fail to notice pedestrians on their right and often do not stop before the crosswalk before proceeding. And lastly ped signals that lie that are purposely placed only roads that are hard for pedestrians to cross.

What do I mean by ped signals that lie? We have all seen this the traffic light is green in the direction we want to cross and the stupid ped signal has the big red hand showing. This is in plain and simple terms a lie, false information that any reasonable person would ignore. Imagine for a second that you go into a building and use the elevator that is all ready to enter but as you do so cops come and give you a ticket for failing to use the call button and waiting for the elevator that you called. Sounds incredibly stupid, right? Yet that is exactly what traffic engineers expect pedestrains to do, wait through a light cycle for the ped light that they called. Only cars get automatic signals and pedestrains are second class citizens that have to play the game of "Mother may I" before getting the OK to cross.

Again I will strongly assert that traffic laws have to be enforced across the board and on both sides to solve this problem. Focusing just on the victims of poorly designed streets and outrageous self-centered car behavior is… well just outrageous.

You might be interested in revisiting what the public put down for Obstacles for walking and biking, District 4, Baltimore County https://www.baltimorespokes.org/article.php?story=20100503092908107 .]
Continue reading “Officials Want To Ensure Pedestrians Follow Rules [but not cars]”