Yesterday at about 7:45 a.m., a 6th grade student from Hamilton was struck by a car while she was in the crosswalk at 43rd and Wallingford Avenue North. A Hamilton parent wrote in our Forums that the student sustained hip and thigh injuries, but that the school informed the students yesterday that she will be o.k., which we’re very glad to hear.
Stay safe, folks! It’s dark and dreary this time of year.
No excuse is acceptable. Some drivers have revved up to 40mph by 43rd and Wallingford. I am so glad she is going to be ok with no permanent physical injuries, I hope. But it is a very traumatic experience for a pedestrian to be hit by a car.
I’m shocked this doesn’t happen more often. Last night I had to run to dodge a car that turned into the crosswalk while I had the right of way. At the crosswalk in from of QFC, it’s exceptionally rare that someone doesn’t run the light westbound. Between drivers’ entitlement, general oblivion, and a plethora of walkers, its just a grisly incident waiting to happen. Glad to hear this wasn’t one of them, unless you count the premature awakening of a 6th grader to the fear of injury or death.
I live quite near to Hamilton and at that time in the morning (7:40-7:50) parents are RACING through the intersections near the school as they drop off kids. I was actually going to raise the issue with the school (before this incident even happened) b/c of how dangerous it is.
I see so many people/children standing right at the curb waiting for a light, or immediately stepping off the curb when the light changes. Both drivers AND pedestrians need to realize that they’re standing just inches from a several thousand pound chunk of steel doing 20mph plus. I always try and get loved ones to step way back from the street. In most situations pedestrians have the right-of-way, but being an ignorant pedestrian will surely ruin your day along with ruining an inattentive drivers day. Pedestrians need to realize they have a much better point of view then most any driver does. My number one fear as a driver is the possibility of hitting a pedestrian.
I hope the news of this incident is used to talk with our families and friends about staying safe, both as pedestrians and as drivers.
Steve
I cross Wallingford Ave at 43rd often and that intersection is so unsafe! My husband and I complain all the time about all the drivers who don’t stop at the crosswalk for pedestrians. When it’s dark and wet out, it’s the worst. That intersection needs a stop sign heading north and south. I am not one to be in favor of putting up stop signs willy nilly whenever there is an accident. But this crosswalk is so close to Wallingford Playfield and the schools and is very heavily used by pedestrians of all ages. This is a wake up call. What can we do as a community to encourage the city to put a stop sign in there?
@Joan: start by calling SDOT:
Pedestrian Issues
[email protected]
206-684-7583
– and/or –
Safe Routes to School
Brian Dougherty – [email protected]
206-684-5124
What everybody else said! I am not surprised by this at all. I am constantly dodging cars around here, and it makes me livid.
I know I come off as a b***h when I cross 43rd and Wallingford, but if a car isn’t slowing down and I’ve been waiting for a chance to cross, I make a big deal to point up to the crossing sign. Sometimes they stop, sometimes they look at me blank as they speed by.
I think Emily hit it on the head with “drivers’ entitlement, general oblivion”, except I don’t think it matters if it’s one walker or a plethora or them.
Please be a bit careful about complaints to SDOT. It took nearly five years to get the curb bulbs and crosswalk added as part of our work at Wally Playfield.
SDOT does not particularly care for crosswalks. Their data shows that more pedestrian/vehicle conflicts occur at crosswalks which they interpret to mean that they should not put them in. Others might argue that more conflicts happen at crosswalks because people use them more often than a specific unmarked intersection.
The curb bulbs help pedestrians see traffic better and help make pedestrians more visible to drivers. Pedestrians still need to be observant and make eye contact with drivers before proceeding. This location was selected because it is at the crown of the hill and represented the best opportunity for a safe crossing improvement.
Also, I believe that this accident was compounded by a school bus parked at the intersection, which may have screened the view of traffic by the child and vice versa.
Sports equipment stores and Tweedy Popp carry blinker lights we can attach to our clothing. they come with magnets or clasps.
Seems this could just be solved with a flashing LED on the crosswalk sign itself, just like Metro uses for bus stops on 99.
It is heartening to see so many people concerned about pedestrian safety. After many decades of observation, I am convinced that the most needed action is the education of drivers to the requirement to respect the ped’s right-of-way at EVERY intersection. That education should include greater police enforcement of that requirement.
I urge all concerned to keep pressing authorities to greatly improve drivers’ education in this regard.
>> greater police enforcement of that requirement.
The driver’s ed idea is good, but police enforcement is just not tenable. There are probably close to 200 intersections just in Wallingford. You would need to do this with cameras, and signals at crosswalks.
Last summer SPD was doing a crosswalk sting operation on Stone Wy. When a bicyclist cruising down Stone didn’t stop for the SPD/pedestrian, he was stopped by a SPD motorcycle cop. This issue isn’t just for autos.
Steve
To be clear, under Washington state law, every intersection where pedestrians can legally cross constitutes a crosswalk. Some crosswalks are marked, and most are unmarked, but I believe by law pedestrians have the same right of way regardless of markings. DOT’s misgivings are with marked crosswalks. See http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Operations/Traffic/crosswalks.htm for example.
everyone needs to slow down on Wallingford Ave 9and surrounding streets) but the biggere question is why aren’t there crossing guards? When I lived in California, there were volunteer crossing guards everywhere….. Just to address the NIMBY naysayer comments…. I will volunteer (and I don’t even have kids). Why don’t we have crossing guards?
There’s been research to show that more accidents occur in marked crosswalks than in unmarked ones. Partly because more people use the marked crosswalks when available, but also because people tend to take more risks *because* it’s marked and they assume cars *must* stop for them by law. ”
Pedestrians mentally “consume the risk” that would have been reduced by the marked crosswalk by taking more chances than they would at an unmarked intersection.
Not saying this is what happened in this case, and of course drivers should follow the law, just saying that it’s best to keep your guard up and treat ALL crosswalks as unmarked. Assume that car does NOT see you until they slow down and you’ve made eye contact with the driver. Then before you pass that car, make sure no one is passing the car that stopped for you on the right. (This happens on 40th and Densmore all the time.)