"I
was raised the old-fashioned way, with a stern set of moral
principles: Never lie, cheat, steal or knowingly spread a
venereal disease. Never speed up to hit a pedestrian or, or
course, stop to kick a pedestrian who has already been hit.
From which it followed, of course, that one would never ever—on
pain of deletion from dozens of Christmas card lists across
the country—vote Republican." —Barbara
Ehrenreich
Metropolitan
Atlanta, Georgia
This
crosswalk on the 10th Street and Argonne Avenue
in Atlanta was virtually unusable before installation
of centerline flexible crosswalk signs. The City
of Iowa City has refused to seriously consider the
use of this highly effective signage.
(Photo: Donald Baxter)
Pedestrians
Educating Drivers in Safety (PEDS) is a member-based
advocacy organization dedicated to making metro Atlanta
safe and accessible for all pedestrians. When PEDS was
founded in 1996, pedestrians
were not yet on metro Atlanta’s radar screen. Government
agencies identified transportation safety exclusively
with occupant safety, engineers lacked information about
the needs
of pedestrians, police officers ticketed crosswalk law
violators
only after someone had been hit, and media attention to
pedestrians was limited to one-inch blurbs following fatal
crashes. Worst of all, people rarely thought of
themselves
as pedestrians. Because
of PEDS’ efforts, all
that is changing.
PEDS
neighborhood yard signs in an Atlanta, Georgia,
front yard. 3,500 of these signs have been placed
since 2006. (Photo:
PEDS)
PEDS
has been responsible for the installation of flexible
in-street crosswalk signage that reminds drivers that
stopping for pedestrians is Georgia law.
The
positioning of the signs in the street centerline along
with pavement marking and additinal signage has the
effect
of slowing
traffic which has a dramatic effect to improve pedestrian
safety.
This
Atlanta organization has also supplied resident of Metro
Atlanta neighborhood "SLOW DOWN" yard signs
that have been placed in 3,500 locations.
PEDS and Atlanta's Clean Air Campaign have published
an excellent brochure What Pedestrians Should Know
about their Rights and Responsibilities. Download
that brochure here
(requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)
PEDS
has recently produced a very effective media campaign
directed at neighborhood speeding which will run
on 200 cinema screens in the 18-county Metropolitan
Atlanta region.
Warning: some viewers may find the content
of this video distrubing.
Naperville,
Illinois As
part of Naperville's Friendly Streets program the city
has adopted the PEDS Atlanta Pace Car Program. Citizens
pledge to drive their cars no faster than the speed limit
making their cars into "mobile speed bumps."
The city advises residents to use their front yards and
sidewalks for socializing and play in addition to using
the street for parking. All of these tactics create traffic
calming on neighborhood streets. Click here
for details and to see the City of Naperville's Pace Car
Brochure.
University
Heights, Iowa
University
Heights is an incorporated town surrounded by Iowa City and
the University of Iowa. While the city's traffic control and
marking is provided under contract by the City of Iowa City,
University Heights wisely provides its own police force. This
small city simply enforces speed limits which goes a long way
toward making the city a safer place to walk, cross the street,
and use a bicycle for everyday transportation.
At the town line traffic slows perceptably. Unfortunately as
traffic exits the City into the University of Iowa it resumes
speed into the campus (the speed limit does not change, only
the priority of enforcement).
HAWK
Signal in Tucson, Arizona.
(Tucson Department of Transportation)
Tucson,
Arizona
Tucson
has experimented with three types of pedestrian activated
signals (PELICAN, TOCAN, and HAWK) that require drivers
to stop at mid-block crosswalks. Tucson
Pedestrian Traffic Signal Operation webpage from the
Tucson DOT.
(Mayor's
Office of Pedestrian Safety, City of Seattle)
Seattle,
Washington Seattle
has been ranked by Prevention Magazine as the
fifth best walking city in the United States and support
for pedestrianism comes from the top of Seattle's administration,
Mayor Greg Nickels. Nickels created a 10 point plan for
pedestrian safety that includes tough enforcement on drivers
who fail to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks and a red
light camera enforcement program. Additionally, a very
creative television and radio campaign was developed called
"Think of the Impact You Could Make."
( Seattle
Office of the Mayor, Pedestrian Safety website
)
Additionally,
Mayor Nickels announced a $2.5 million dollar project
called "Safe
Crossings" to rehabilitate crosswalks, sidewalks,
signals and safety education.
Benicia,
California, Pedestrian "Sting" Enforcement
In order to create a driving
culture where pedestrian rights are respected, marking and
signage are only a part of the equation. The must be law enforcement.
Here's an example of an enforcement sting directed at drivers
who fail to yield.
Queensland,
Australia
A public awareness campaign
called "No Accident" on vehicular speeding using
an extreme approach:
Warning: This video contains graphic violence
that some viewers may find distrubing.
New
South Wales, Australia ("Pinky")
The DMV of New South Wales
is called the RTA. This lighthearted ad to encourage responsible
driving is called "Speeding: No One Thinks Big of You."
Insurance
Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC)
Autoplan
In British Columbia all of
the car insurance is underwritten by the province and the
ICBC does an excellent job of promoting driver safety in a
long series of public media campaigns.
