A pedestrian was in the crosswalk when he decided to take a shortcut to the bus stop. He exited the crosswalk and walked in the travel lane where he was struck by a driver supposedly under the influence of alcohol (story). Since he was jaywalking and the driver was allegedly drunk, who is at fault?
A Henderson woman was killed crossing a street, struck by a UPS truck. Details state that the accident is still under investigation and exactly what happened had yet to be determined (lvrj.com). Who was at fault?
A six year old girl died and two other youngsters suffered severe injuries when they were struck by a 78 year old woman driver while they were in a crosswalk. (cross walk story). The driver was charged with the accident. Do we need to invoke a “refresher” course for senior drivers?
A school bus ran over a high school student while she was in a marked crosswalk. She suffered major injuries as a result, requiring surgery to save her leg (school bus story). School bus drivers have a commercial driver’s license (CDL) which requires more training and knowledge of laws and vehicle equipment. Is it enough? What criteria does the school district require?
A “high” pedestrian ran out into the street and was run over and killed by a passing car. (story). Drugs at fault? Lack of enforcement?
Reference the same article, a 12 year old trick-or-treater was killed by a drunk driver in Summerlin and a 55 year old woman was killed while jaywalking. A 15 year old was jaywalking when he was struck and killed by a 77 year old DUI driver.
Inevitably, the police will be blamed for the lack of enforcement at crosswalks and driver’s violations.
What’s the saying?
“Don’t judge a man until you’ve walked (sorry, not a pedestrian reference) a mile in his shoes”.
While working as a motorcycle officer, I conducted enforcement at numerous intersections with varying results. I did find the good “fishing holes”.
One of those is the crosswalk in front of UNLV. Who was at fault in the majority of the observed violations? The drivers, without a doubt. But I did witness a few pedestrian violations. Young people entering the crosswalk without even looking. Some walking outside of the VERY well-marked crosswalks, some a little bit, some by a lot.
The crosswalk is probably the best well-marked crosswalk in town, with super-bright yellow strobe warning lights, assorted markings, posted signs, etc. Yet, drivers CONSTANTLY drive right pass these numerous and OBVIOUS indicators as people are walking in them, sometimes missing them by inches.
I stopped a woman twice for the same violation, at the same crosswalk, within 30 minutes while she looked for a parking spot. Both times she wasn’t wearing her seat belt. Made my job easy.
I watched as pedestrians, mostly tourists, run across Las Vegas Blvd, some intoxicated, directly into the path of distracted drivers as they look at the scenery on the strip.
Try and conduct a stop on the strip without it not turning into a “YouTube” event.
Why only have the “walk-overs” at certain intersections?
They biggest traffic problem on the strip is the pedestrian traffic. There is too much congestion on the corners as they wait for a walk signal. Smut peddlers are harassing them as they walk by. Others hawkers are trying to get their attention. Alcohol flows freely on the strip, sometimes on the sidewalks, easily accessed by pedestrians.
What needs to be done to insure pedestrian safety?
Address the pedestrians? The parents? The drivers? How about the resorts on the strip that furnish alcohol to everyone while they walk along the sidewalks and then dart into traffic?
I hope all the schools, every grade level has a program to ensure pedestrian safety.
Have you seen the traffic debacle around the schools when school starts or gets out? Double parking. Kids running/darting into traffic.
Maybe the parents should be required to attend, too.
The strip hosts folks from all over the world and not all speak/read English.
While most of us agree that the signs and signals are easy to interpret, maybe signs in different languages need to be posted (not every language, but the major ones).
So, are we doing everything we can to address the issue? I don’t think so. Yes, it’ll take time and money.
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