Tag Archive for 'safety'

Page 3 of 5

More safety reminders

From SDOT’s Holiday Pedestrian Safety Campaign:

When you’re driving:

  • Don’t block the box
  • Never pass a vehicle that is stopped at a crosswalk—assume they are stopped for a pedestrian
  • Don’t be a distracted driver—don’t use cell phones or text while driving
  • Yield to pedestrians
  • Make eye contact with a pedestrian before proceeding through a crosswalk

When you’re walking:

  • Use the sidewalk
  • Wear bright clothing at night so you can be more easily seen
  • Always use marked crosswalks whenever possible
  • Make eye contact with drivers who are approaching
  • Don’t be a distracted walker–turn off headphones and pay attention when crossing the street
Share

Central District News suggests road diet for 23rd Ave

In response to the pedestrian “death map” we published, Central District News offers safety suggestions to combat the disproportionately high number of fatalities in their neighborhood:

So what can be done to reduce collisions? On a personal level, try to cross hilly streets either at the top or bottom of the hill. Make eye contact with vehicle drivers when crossing to make sure they see you. When driving, remember that all intersections are crosswalks by default whether there is paint on the ground or not, and pedestrians do have the right of way.

They also suggest a road diet for 23rd Ave, one of the most dangerous streets in the neighborhood:

There are other tools the city has used to increase safety on streets like 23rd Ave (I will now put on my safe roads advocacy hat). Currently, 23rd is a four-lane road with few safe pedestrian crossings other than at stoplights (what I would call a highway design). Four-lane configurations make left tuns onto and off of these roads difficult for drivers. They also prevent the city from being able to install safe crosswalks in sections where there are no stoplights for several blocks.

With only 15,100 vehicles per day south of Madison (according to 2006 data, the most recent readily available for this road) 23rd Ave has similar traffic volumes to roads across the city that have recently been reconfigured to increase safety for all users. These so-called “road diets” often add a center right left turn lane and sometimes bike lanes while removing one travel lane in each direction. Though they have proven to decrease all road collisions dramatically without reducing vehicle capacity, some have been controversial

Share

“Death Map” shows “city hasn’t taken pedestrian safety in the Rainier Valley seriously”

Erica C. Barnett at PubliCola, responding to SDOT’s map of pedestrian fatalities first published at Walking in Seattle, calls for the city to do something about the high number of deaths on Ranier Ave S:

In five years—despite dire warnings from groups like Save Our Valley that surface-level light rail construction and operations would lead to a rash of pedestrian fatalities—there have been zero deaths in the past five years along Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave., where surface-level light rail opened in July 2009. In the same period, there have been seven deaths on or near MLK’s parallel street, Rainier Ave.

The correlation is no coincidence: As I’ve written before, Rainier Ave. is a pedestrian nightmare, a five-lane arterial where drivers speed along at 50 mph and where stoplights are as far as a mile apart. MLK, in contrast, has more stop lights, fewer lanes, and frequent pedestrian crossings, especially at light rail stations. According to the PI.com, Rainier is the most dangerous street in the city, with 61 reported car-pedestrian collisions between 2002 and 2006. The intersection of Rainier and 39th Ave. S. tied a several-block-long stretch of Aurora for the most jaywalking incidents (six) in the city.

The solution (as I’ve also written before) is to add more stoplights and lighted, marked crosswalks all along Rainier. As long as people have to walk a half-mile in each direction to get to the nearest stop light and back, people are going to keep jaywalking across Rainier, and people are going to keep getting hit. The pedestrian death map highlights what’s already obvious to anyone who walks, rides the bus, drives, or bikes along Rainier: The city hasn’t taken pedestrian safety in the Rainier Valley seriously, and it’s time for them to step up and do so.

Share

Pedestrian safety reminders for drivers

Here are some pedestrian safety reminders for drivers:

  • Drivers must stop for pedestrians in crosswalks and at all intersections, marked or unmarked.
  • Drivers must stop before the stop line or crosswalk
  • Drivers crossing a sidewalk to enter or exit a driveway, alley or parking lot must yield to pedestrians.
  • A driver can turn into a crosswalk only after pedestrians are one lane past the driver’s half of the roadway.

Speed is Deadly for Pedestrians

  • 8 out of 10 pedestrians hit at 40 mph are killed.
  • 1 in 20 pedestrians hit at 20 mph is killed.

These are included on a pamphlet provided to drivers who are cited for breaking the law on Aurora, as part of the Aurora Traffic Safety Project. You don’t have to get pulled over to see the whole pamphlet, though, you can find it here.

Share

More support for pedestrian safety campaign

Since our article on SDOT’s pedestrian safety campaign, more local blogs have spoken out in defense of the controversial campaign, including PubliCola, Seattle Transit Blog, and Seattle Bike Blog.

Here’s a dancing, umbrella flash mob, using umbrellas as part of the safety awareness campaign:

Following this, King 5 reported that a local business owner wants to know why we didn’t have a dancing, street-shoveling flash mob to clean up the snow. (that’s a joke)

Seriously, though, SDOT is getting their $47,000 out of this safety awareness campaign. While some people may criticize it, more people know about the campaign and the safety umbrellas than would have been possible without mainstream media coverage. Even if it’s the umbrellas that are receiving all the attention, people across the city are now more aware of the risks to people on foot. Whether that awareness translates to safer driving and fewer collisions downtown, however, remains to be seen.

Share

SDOT’s pedestrian safety initiative critcized

SDOT is working to make downtown safer for pedestrians during the dark winter months as part of their Holiday Pedestrian Safety Campaign. There are more pedestrian collisions during the winter months as shoppers rush around dark downtown streets.

One way they are doing this is by providing bright umbrellas for pedestrians downtown to borrow. The umbrellas make people more visible to drivers and also serve as a visual reminder of the safety campaign, which also will use advertisements, posters, and other ways of getting people to think about safety.

However, some people aren’t happy with the campaign and feel that the $47k that SDOT is spending to reduce the risk of collisions would have been better spent on snow removal or in myriad other ways.

While the region’s response to Snowpocalypse 2010 (also known as snOMG) was underwhelming, the factors that contribute to Seattle’s snowpocalyptic tendencies are greater than what SDOT can solve, even if they took money away from safety initiatives like this.

It’s easy to second-guess how money is spent, but it’s not as easy to keep pedestrians safe in the street. This Holiday Pedestrian Safety Campaign takes a relatively small amount of money ($47,000 or 0.00015%0.015% of SDOT’s budget) and uses it to help stop collisions and potentially save lives.

SDOT makes a strong argument in support of the campaign:

So, as highlighted in Seattle’s Pedestrian Master Plan, changing behavior is one of the keys to making everyone safer, especially when traveling around downtown. It’s convincing pedestrians to look before entering the crosswalk and getting drivers to be more aware of people walking.

Some have argued that trying to change driver and pedestrian behavior is a waste of time and resources. However, to create a walkable city we must use all available tools to reduce the number and severity of crashes. That means engineering improvements, enforcement and education. Our campaign this year includes bus ads, posters, stickers, displays for merchants, umbrellas, publicity events and public service announcements. The money we are investing in this pedestrian awareness campaign is worth it if we prevent one collision or save one life.

Share

Greenwood Ave improvements

Visit SDOT’s blog to see photos of the new road striping on Greenwood Ave.

This project, which is consistent with the Greenwood Neighborhood Plan, enhances access to businesses, improves pedestrian safety, maintains transit efficiency, and provides bicycle facilities while reducing vehicle speeds and maintaining vehicle carrying capacity.

Crews changed the number of travel lanes to one lane in each direction, extended turn pockets at the intersection of Greenwood and N 85th St, installed a new center turn lane, and added bicycle lanes in both directions.

Share

Westlake Streetcar Plaza sidewalks re-opened

We reported a few weeks ago that the sidewalks surrounding Westlake Streetcar Plaza / McGraw Square had been closed, significantly impacting pedestrian movement in the area. This project was expected to be completed prior to Thanksgiving, however it has been delayed “due to unforeseen site conditions and weather delays,” according to SDOT spokesperson Rick Sheridan.

The sidewalks and crosswalks have been re-opened, however, as work on site has stopped. Seattle has a holiday construction moratorium, disallowing construction downtown from Thanksgiving through January 1. This moratorium helps businesses downtown by reducing the impacts of construction to vehicle and pedestrian traffic during this busy time of year. It is because of this moratorium and to better support pedestrians during the holiday season that SDOT has re-opened sidewalks around Westlake Streetcar Plaza and constructed a temporary sidewalk along Stewart Ave.

However, due to the weather impacts and current work stoppage, project completion will be delayed by more than two months. Sheridan says, “We estimate the project will be completed and the square opened for public use by early February.”

For now, though, it’s good that pedestrian movement is being prioritized and the sidewalks are open. SDOT will likely at least re-close the temporary sidewalk along Stewart to pour new concrete. We will check in on the area early next year when construction continues to see if SDOT chooses to re-close the already-completed sidewalks.

Share

Crossing improvements planned near Beacon Hill Station

A few months ago, Beacon Hill Blog drew attention to the unsafe conditions at the intersection of Beacon Ave S and Lander St. Since then, they have Beacon BIKES has met with SDOT to design a new crossing to allow pedestrians to cross more safely.

Share

Dangers of Aurora, part 2: Safety Project will benefit pedestrians

Aurora Traffic Safety ProjectAs we saw in part 1, Aurora is a dangerous highway, especially for pedestrians. The Aurora Traffic Safety Project is making Aurora safer for all users through a three-pronged approach of engineering, enforcement, and education.

There is only $250,000 available for engineering improvements along Aurora, so “getting word out is a critical piece” of the plan according to project manager Jim Curtin. Because many pedestrian collisions are caused by inattentive drivers who fail to yield the right of way, the tag line of the project is “Expect the Unexpected.” “We want people to be ready for anything at any time,” says Curtin.

New billboards on the corridor remind people to slow down and watch for pedestrians. Also, five radar speed signs will remind drivers how fast they are going. This method can lower speeds in these targeted areas by 3-5 miles per hour according to studies referenced by SDOT.

STOP for Pedestrians billboard design

Billboard to remind drivers to be careful

There are also pedestrian safety patrols on Aurora to make sure that drivers properly yield to pedestrians. Drivers who don’t yield to pedestrians will get a ticket and a brochure to remind them to drive safely around people on foot.

The Washington Traffic Safety Commission has supplied seventy-five thousand dollars for additional police work during the duration of the two-year project. Citations issued on Aurora are up 110%, and 10,000 citations have been written since the project launched in June of last year.

Meanwhile, SDOT is doing what it can to address the road design. “If we had funding in place, we would like to re-engineer the roadway and put changes in place to slow people down,” says Curtin. The majority of pedestrian collisions occur in intersections and the existing signals are already “the highest form of traffic control that we can provide.” Still, SDOT has repainted crosswalks at all signals at a cost of $1,500 per crosswalk, and added new crosswalks at 115th and 130th Streets.

But Curtin says there’s more than just new paint. “When the Traffic Safety Project is complete in June of 2011, we will have installed more than 30 new curb ramps along Aurora (fourteen of which are already complete). In addition, we have applied for a grant to install a new traffic signal at N 95th and Aurora. This is the mid-point of a ten block stretch that lacks crosswalks despite busy transit stops on the east and west sides of the street.” Just a few weeks ago a pedestrian was struck at 95th St, so this improvement can’t come soon enough.

SDOT has applied for an additional grant to install curb ramps at N 135th St, another site of serious accidents. Other improvements that have already been made include reclaiming part of 84th Street to create a bus stop plaza and adding a left turn signal to traffic lights at 80th St.

The project team will continue to evaluate conditions along Aurora, looking deeper at collision patterns as well as lighting along the corridor.

SDOT is still evaluating how to reduce pedestrian collisions near Green Lake. There were some good ideas shared on this blog last time someone was hit there. According to Curtin:

We are currently leaning toward an option similar to one of your reader suggestions. In this option, we would install signage or paint directly onto the jersey barrier with the “no pedestrian crossing” symbol (the ped symbol with a red circle with a line through it). Beneath the symbol we would paint “crosswalk X blocks” with an arrow pointing in the direction of the nearest crosswalk. We would install these markings in areas where we see this behavior most often. We’ve identified several areas thus far including: the Green Lake area, near the N 50th St underpass, near the N 46th St underpass, near the N 41st St overpass, near the N 38th St underpass/north end of the Aurora Bridge, near the south end of the Aurora Bridge, near the Galer St overpass, near the Broad St underpass, and near Denny Way. Believe it or not, most of the ped collisions on the south end of the corridor happen within one to two blocks of a safe crossing. Again, there is no guarantee that pedestrians will take time to read the message but we feel that this is a viable option.

While Aurora will still be a dangerous roadway without re-engineering, the project is already seeing success. Curtin says, “We’ve seen a 30% reduction in collisions and want to sustain that for the next couple years and beyond.”

More information about the project can be found at the project website, or from this interview with SDOT project manager Jim Curtin on Aurora Seattle.

Share