This morning while taking my son to school, my husband came upon the scene of an accident that had occurred mere seconds earlier. A pedestrian had crossed in front of traffic that was weaving through a special left turn area for turning left onto Redwood Road from 5400 South. These new additions to our roadways are called continuous left turn lanes. The cars wait at a light much earlier than the intersection. When their light turns green they are guided on a road that takes them to the other side of the road from normal traffic flow( to the left) where they are then able to turn left while the rest of traffic proceeds with the green light. These lights work great, but I guess the pedestrian was confused. He crossed 5400 South while the cars had the green light to head over to the left side of the road and turn left. I think he lucked out as it seemed as if he only had his foot run over. But, it could have been much worse, and sadly, contact between cars and people is often fatal.
Traffic laws can be confusing for drivers and pedestrians alike. I'm not even sure of the specifics of the laws. I looked them up and it's still confusing.
You can read a 3 page document about pedestrian traffic laws in Utah here:
http://media.bonnint.net/slc/1090/109074/10907482.pdf
This is something I've been thinking about since last Halloween when a teenage pedestrian was killed a couple of blocks from my house. It was dark. She crossed 2700 West in Taylorsville at a crosswalk created for the purpose of kids getting to the Junior High on the East side of the street. It's the kind of crosswalk with painted stripes on the road.
http://fox13now.com/2015/11/01/police-id-14-year-old-girl-hit-killed-while-trick-or-treating-in-taylorsville/
http://fox13now.com/2015/11/02/death-of-teen-hit-killed-in-crosswalk-could-have-been-prevented-taylorsville-residents-say/
What happened? Nobody knows for sure. The teenagers crossed. The driver didn't see them. A girl lost her life. It's tragic. These kinds of things happen all too often.
Our city has put up pedestrian crossing flags and flashing lights at the crosswalk now. And it seems like the street lights are working better than ever before. I'm fairly certain there is a brand new light there. I have driven on that road many times and been completely oblivious to the fact that there is a crosswalk there. Because, if it isn't school starting or ending time, I'm not thinking about crosswalks in the middle of busy streets where there aren't traffic lights. I see it as I drive past, but before the lights were added, I couldn't see that crosswalk until I was right on it. My guess is that the driver of the minivan that hit these kids neither saw the crosswalk nor the teenagers in the road. I don't know.
I'm thrilled that the city has made this crosswalk safer and pray that they look to making other dangerous crosswalks safer before they are pressured to do so by residents outrcries due to a fatality.
But, while I hope for safer crossing for every person moving by the power of their own feet, I responded to this tragedy in a way that came as if by instinct- I sat down and talked to my children about pedestrian safety. I can't control how people drive, but I can teach my kids how to respond to how people drive.
The hard cold truth is that regardless of who has the right of way, it is not always safe to cross the street just because it's your right to do so. I taught my children the rules that I live by and I'm sharing this here to encourage everyone who reads it to teach/remind your small loved ones how to be a safe pedestrian.
PEDESTRIAN SAFETY RULES
These rules apply in all crossing situations, regardless of right of way laws
1. When you want to cross the street, stop at the curb.
2. Look both ways.
3. If you see a car coming, stop.
4. Wait to see what the driver does. If the driver stops for you, make eye contact and wave. Do not cross the road until you have made eye contact so that you are CERTAIN that the driver sees you.
5. Proceed with crossing the street.
6. If the driver does not stop, wait until he/she passes. Then start over with rules 1-5.
7. If you are crossing a multi-lane road, you must continue to follow these rules all the way across the road. Just because one driver stops for you doesn't mean other drivers see you. Make sure that they see you. This is usually very obvious by the cars stopping.
8. If a car does not stop, you stop.
9. In review, when waiting to cross, wait for cars to stop. Make eye contact and wave before crossing in front of them.
My teenage son leaned over my shoulder and read what I just wrote. He is afraid that my post might offend some people, especially students at his school who are still reeling from the death of their classmate. I have no desire to cause any more pain or make judgments regarding blame. It was an accident, and I personally believe that everyone involved was trying to follow the laws. My agenda is to do my small part to remind people that when crossing the street, we must never assume that a driver sees us.
There are distracted drivers.
There are rude drivers.
There are inexperienced drivers.
There are tired drivers.
There are human drivers.
If you have small people in your life, please take a few minutes to talk to them about safety in crossing the street, whether it is the neighborhood street or a large road.
It just might save a life.
Well said
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