Baltimore County Pedestrian Safety Campaign Launches
Towson, Md. (May 11, 2010) - The County Police Department held a press conference on Monday, May 10, at the Liberty Crossing Shopping Center. Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith and Police Chief Jim Johnson announced a stepped up initiative aimed at reducing the number of pedestrian related traffic crashes and fatalities in Baltimore County. The pedestrian safety campaign will focus on three key areas: Education, Enforcement and Engineering.
While crime is down, the County has experienced a slight increase in pedestrian related traffic crashes and fatalities over the past three years. The County recognizes that traffic crashes and fatalities are key public safety and quality of life issues that have far reaching affects. Executive Jim Smith said, "This is about keeping the streets of our communities safe for all our citizens." Police Chief Jim Johnson said, "Our ultimate goal is to educate citizens and save lives."
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[B' Spokes: Now don't get me wrong this is a great start but the order of the list just seems wrong and missing items.
Suggestions for Pedestrian-Friendly Driving, my suggestions:
* Stop for pedestrians in the crosswalk - it's the law.
* Drive the speed limit and sorry but driving 10mph above the speed limit is illegal and is harmful for pedestrians and cyclists.
Their list does not mention speeding and their wording for stopping for a person in a crosswalk is Byzantine, IMHO
Suggestions for Safe Pedestrian Crossing, this suggestion cracks me up:
* Always cross a street or road at a crosswalk or traffic light that has a crosswalk.
That's a good one from a county that takes pride in their lack of sidewalks, crosswalks and pedestrian signals.
Suggestions for Safe Bicycling
* Ride in designated bicycle lanes.
Right, like what all 5 miles of bike lanes if that many, get real, cyclists not riding in bike lanes when present cannot be a problem in Baltimore County. And cyclists be prepared to be hassled because you're not "riding in the bike lane" when there is not one in 10 miles in any direction.
It seems to me Baltimore County has tons of work to do on the engineering side, and might I suggest some (zebra) stripes in the crosswalks as it is now motorists think to outside crosswalk line is a stop bar and block the crosswalk.
On the enforcement side I hope they give out warning tickets for the first month with near the same number going to motorists and pedestrians. It's safer to cross mid-block (j-walk) if motorist will not stop for you in crosswalks and if motorist are accustomed to not yielding to frequent j-walkers then they have a hard time recognizing the need to yield to a someone in a crosswalk. All sides of the problem need to curtail what they are doing if we want to return to a civilized society that does not treat human being as road kill.
Their press release: <a href="http://www.baltimorecountymd.gov/News/releases/0511pedestrian.html">http://www.baltimorecountymd.gov/News/releases/0511pedestrian.html</a>;