B’ Spokes: This is something I strongly encourage for the Baltimore Metro area. I will also assert when we make the roads safer for pedestrians we make the roads safer for us. It really comes down to eliminating the concept that roads are just for cars. Read the full article for what the blowback might be if we did try this here.]
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By SARAH GOODYEAR, The Atlantic Cities
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Last year at this time, the cops were cracking down on jaywalkers. Will switching tactics make a difference?
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The problem is that roads in much of the United States are engineered for speed. Straight, wide, free of any obstacles, the modern American thoroughfare sends drivers the clear message that this is their domain, over which they should reign undisputed. Bright yellow signs with silhouetted figures and white lines on the asphalt can’t begin to convince people behind the wheel of anything different, not to mention some rule from driver education that they forgot as soon as they got their licenses.
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The drivers may be aware of the destructive potential of their vehicles, but many seem to think that just means everyone should get the heck out of their way. “I thought the guy was crazy for walking across like that," says one guy from behind the wheel, shaking his head.
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Do pedestrian decoy operations have any effect on attitudes like that? At least one study suggests that they might, if combined with a concerted educational approach. A 2004 study published in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis looked at a two-week-long Miami Beach "driver-yielding enforcement program," which included decoy pedestrians, feedback flyers, and written and verbal warnings. The article’s authors found that the program made a measurable difference in driver behavior:
"Results indicated that the percentage of drivers yielding to pedestrians increased following the introduction of the enforcement program in each corridor and that these increases were sustained for a period of a year with minimal additional enforcement. The effects also generalized somewhat to untreated crosswalks in both corridors, as well as to crosswalks with traffic signals."
In other words, crosswalks can become safer places if municipalities are willing to do some hard work. That’s important because, as Emily Badger wrote last week, other research shows that many pedestrians are struck when they’re in crosswalks acting in accordance with the law – doing what is supposed to be the right thing.
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Janna Chernetz, the New Jersey advocate at the nonprofit Tri State Transportation Campaign, says that her group sees pedestrian decoy operations as part of a bigger picture. “These programs are one tool in a toolkit,” she says. The others include education, as well as better infrastructure that sends a clear signal to motorists and pedestrians. One example is HAWK crosswalks (that stands for high-intensity activated crosswalks), which use an unusual cluster of lights to get a motorist’s attention when a pedestrian is entering the roadway. [Has Maryland installed any HAWK crosswalks yet?]
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https://www.theatlanticcities.com/commute/2013/04/police-stings-drivers-who-dont-yield-crosswalks-does-it-really-work/5221/
Biking in Baltimore