[B’ Spokes: OK speculation time again on "Why would a pedestrian want to cross a road a 100′ before the intersection?" So it’s 6:20 in the morning and the road you are walking on has only two crosswalks over one mile. The first crosswalk is one of those "you can only cross from this corner and not the other one" which means if you pressed the ped call button you must first endure a pre-queue so all the "other" pedestrians out at 6:15 in the morning can gather around you and you can all cross together, but if you were in a car the light would begin to cycle right away to emphasize that cars are a privileged class and somehow one car’s convenience out ranks one pedestrian’s life, at least that’s how a lot of ped call buttons work around here. If there was a second crosswalk at least you could press the button on one side and cross a road while waiting, saving a bit of time. So obviously there is disincentive to cross there.
Incidentally, I recently commented to MDOT on what study shows that having only 3 crosswalks improves pedestrian safety? Also what study shows having no zebra stripes or no bar strips in a crosswalk improves pedestrian safety? (per Google maps the next crosswalk is only two parallel lines and no stripes) Maryland has the 6th highest pedestrian fatality rate so you would think they would have some eye on improved pedestrian safety as required by State law. I probably should have also asked what study shows having a pedestrian pre-queue improves safety when there are studies that show removing the pre-queue for cars decreases crashes (as if human nature suddenly is opposite depending on modality of transport.)
Again, my comments may or may not have any bearing on this particular case but I am getting very suspicious of many ped fatalities around low visibility crosswalks. We need to think why these things are happening and take measures to counteract inconveniencing peds more then we do cars. How would people react to MDOT going out of their way to make peds and only ped suffer through a pre-queue when the control box can be set up differently?
Seriously, we need to start thinking differently about accommodating ALL road users. (Article after the fold.)]
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The following by Matt Zapotosky – Washington Post
UPDATE: Theresa Gibbs, a manager at the post office facility on Edgeworth Drive in Capitol Heights, said Prince George’s County Police called her at about 10 a.m. to ask if an employee who was supposed to be at work that morning was not.
She said there was an employee who was supposed to report to work at 7 a.m. and never showed up. Police, she said, told her the employee had been involved in an accident, though they did not say where or when.
Police have said the man struck and critically injured by a police cruiser Tuesday possibly worked at the post office facility — based on his clothing and the facility’s proximity to the crash — and was possibly returning home from work.
Gibbs said she had received word only about the employee who had not shown up. She declined to name that employee.
ORIGINAL POST: A Prince George’s County police officer driving into work Tuesday struck and critically wounded a pedestrian who appeared to be a postal service employee on his way home from the midnight shift, authorities said.
The crash occurred about 6:20 am on Garrett A. Morgan Boulevard, about 100 feet back from Central Avenue, said Maj. Andrew Ellis, a police spokesman.
The officer was driving toward Central Avenue from the direction of FedEx Field when he collided with the pedestrian, who had stepped into the roadway, Ellis said.
Ellis said the pedestrian, a 62-year-old man from Washington, D.C., sustained critical injuries to his head and at least one lung. He was transported to Prince George’s Hospital Center after the crash, and he remains there in critical condition.
Based on his clothing, he appeared to be some sort of employee at a nearby Postal Service facility and was possibly on his way home from work, Ellis said. The man was not a mail carrier, he said.
Ellis did not immediately identify the officer involved but said he was a five-year veteran assigned to the department’s district two station.
The pedestrian was not in a crosswalk when he was struck, Ellis said, though it remains unclear why he had stepped into the roadway. There are crosswalks that cross Garrett A. Morgan Boulevard, though when a reporter went to the scene hours later, he saw one person run across without using them.
Ellis said one witness told investigators the officer was approaching a red light at the time of the collision, though those investigators believe the initial impact occurred 100 feet from the intersection with that light.
The impact damaged the driver’s side window of the police cruiser’s window and knocked the grill loose, Ellis said. The airbag, however, did not deploy, and the officer was unhurt.
Ellis said the crash was not strong enough to trigger the in-car camera. He said investigators are hoping to review the cruiser’s "event data recorder," which captures engine RPM and whether the driver was wearing a seatbelt, among other things, after a crash.
The officer’s speed will be a critical question: the limit in the area is 35.
Ellis said alcohol does not appear to be a factor in the crash; the officer, he said, was on his way to work. At least initially, he said, it appears no one will be charged.
"Initial investigation does not lead me to believe anybody’s going to be cited, at least right now," Ellis said. "But I can tell you, this is going to be a thorough investigation."
https://voices.washingtonpost.com/crime-scene/matt-zapotosky/officer-hits-pedestrian-in-mor.htmloldId.20100915200658657
Biking in Baltimore