The Town Broker

Local Drivers Take Notice…This Is NO April Fool’s Joke!

Beginning TODAY, the state laws change regarding pedestrians in crosswalks. Previously, drivers merely needed to yield for pedestrians. Starting today, they need to come to a FULL STOP…or face SERIOUS fines and points. This is no April fool’s Joke!

Yesterday, I needed to mail a letter. It was about 5:30pm…the height of the afternoon rush. I stood at the crosswalk in front of the Scotch Plains Post Office on Park Avenue for several minutes before I found a driver willing to obey the yield sign and let me cross. Most drivers simply sped by…oblivious to the “yield to pedestrians” sign in the middle of the street.

Now I realize that it’s sometimes tough to tell whether someone is waiting to cross.  No NJ driver wants to look like a chump and actually stop for someone who doesn’t REALLY want to cross the street. But starting today, we need to take that chance…

Union County Streets Can Be Dangerous For Pedestrians

When you live in towns like ours, it’s fun to “get out and walk“. But historically, our streets haven’t been too friendly to pedestrians. The graphic below is pretty startling. It represents pedestrian fatalities in the county between 2006 – 2008. Blue markers indicate an adult victim, aged 16 to 59. Green markers indicate a child victim, aged 0 to 15. Pink markers indicate an older victim, aged 60 and up.

And this is only for 2 years! I know of several fatalities in my town which came after 2008, and didn’t make the list.

Pay Attention, Save A Life.

In the end, we all need to be a little more alert to what’s happening out there. Our streets can be busy and chaotic. We can ALL be guilty of too much “multi-tasking” behind the wheel…myself included. I don’t want to see any more map markers…and I know you don’t either. Pedestrians need us to be watching for them.

And starting today, failing to do so will cost you…big time!

Tags: Fatalities, Pedestrian, Traffic LAws, Union County, walk score, walkable communities

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 1st, 2010 at 9:26 am and is filed under Cool Stuff I Like, Local Happenings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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