Thursday, December 29, 2011
Police beat Another pedestrian accident downtown
Posted by Max Brantley on Thu, Dec 29, 2011 at 10:15 AM
I've written previously about the perils for pedestrians on Little Rock streets. It's so bad, the city banned pedestrians from using the crosswalk on Broadway at City Hall during weekday work hours. The city also informed me then that it had made pedestrian safety improvements at Capitol and Broadway, a block north of yesterday's accident.
Comments (13)
Showing 1-13 of 13
You dang non-drivers need to get the heck out of our way!
We car folks will stay off your sidewalks so y'all stay off our streets!
like
dislikeSadly, drivers don't stay on the sidewalks, either... I can give you a host of recent examples where the driver "lost control" and ran up onto the sidewalk or across a median to hit a pedestrian or cyclist, for example the young lady up at Fort Baptist who was eating a taco, dropped it in her lap, and ran off the road, killing a highway worker who was picking up trash out of the ditch.
A little ilustration of the problem that pedestrians face, even when they follow all the rules:
http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2009/1…
Our streets are for all citizens who have a need to move or travel from one place to another, not just those folks who drive cars or trucks. And each of us setting out on our daily journey have a duty of due care to avoid runnig over each other, and to watch out for and yield to those less protected... e.g. those pedestrians who are not protected by sitting inside 4000 pounds of steel and plastic.
The situation is really getting ridiculous downtown. A while back, I was hit from behind walking with the walk light at 9th and Main. The woman was playing with her cell phone. Her penalty for trying to kill me? A "failure to yield to pedestrian in thye crosswalk" ticket. SHe ahould have had her driver's license revoked. The streets are full of boulevard stops and people driving like downtown streets are freeways.
This would seem to be a big issue that the Downtown Partnership needs to get on. If you put a school down there there will be even more people crossing streets and getting re-arranged by cars. Most drivers don't seem to want to recognize that pedestrians have rights also and one is to not have their blood all over someone's hood.
I don't miss for 5 seconds risking my life to cross Broadway en route to the US Attorney's office or the bank. I couldn't tell you how many times in the 28 years that I worked downtown how many near misses I have seen. They really need to do something before someone else gets killed.
I pass through downtown LR at least twice a day and often more.
I am amazed at the confidence pedestrians have for driver's abilities and skills.
How often I see one or a group of people standing right at the edge of the curb waiting to cross. Last week a woman with four kids of the 7 to 12 yo variety all on the corner in front of Big Whiskeys just oblivious to cars and trucks barrelling by within a foot.
This is as cars go zipping past at 30 to 50 mph. I also see walkers just inches from traffic lanes WITH THEIR BACKS TO ONCOMING TRAFFIC.
People, I have been a runner, walker, bicycler, motorcycler, awn edger WAY too long to trust my life to my fellow citizen drivers.
I try not to trust my life and health to the bunch of texting/phoning/drinking/eating/ drivers I encounter daily.
Just look at virtually EVERY utility pole, sign pole, interstate partition with in 10 feet of a street!
They are all whacked all to hell, unless they were recently replaced after being knocked down.
Cars should yield to pedestrians. But don't abandon defensive pedalism because they SHOULD.
In motorcycling we had a saying. "You can write I had the right of way on your tombstone."
I also work downtown and many drivers do drive recklessly. They speed, pull into the crosswalks, and in general do not pay any attention to their surroundings or the fact that they are operating a vehicle! Nothing irks me more than a driver pulling into a crosswalk or worse - running a red light all together.
On the other hand, pedestrians need to utilize the crosswalks and not cross when they don't have a light unless there is absolute certainty that a vehicle is not approaching. I have also been the frustrated driver who has a person step out in front of them because they are also apparently "too busy" to pay attention. It can go both ways.
My point: Pay Attention. Live in the present moment! Having to stop at an additional stop light or be five minutes late to work is far less damaging than losing your life or taking another's life.
If you want to really have fun with cars, walk from the River Market toward the Convention Center (both of which are tourist draws so you have people who don't realize that we have teh worst drivers in teh country) and try to get across WITH THE LIGHT at the intersection of President Clinton and LaHarpe (I think that is still its name). On this one, you stand on the curb until there are cars stopped in all lanes before even thinking about trying to cross the street, even with the light. Too many people are on the phone, eating breakfast, reading the paper, putting on make-up, etc. to realize that there is a traffic light.
Lack of adequate funding for safer infrastructure of non-motorized motorized modes of transporation is to blame. Simple things like side walks are opposed by Senator Boozman as unecessary spending. In otherwords, if you don't drive a car you are not worthy to be afforded a safely designed mode of travel. A sidewalk at the edge of the street is not a safe design. But, it is cheaper.
Max, please link to the police report. I cross at Capitol and Broadway 3-5 times weekly for a banking errand. Twice I have been in the middle of Broadway when someone ran the red light going 45!!!! I look like an owl now when I cross, trying to get eye contact with all four sides of drivers to be sure they see me. I'm about to give it up, just too dangerous. I will confess that I am jay walker, but I believe I do it safely. I pick my spots. Just full disclosure, you know.
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