You know them by the distinctive orange flags peeping over the top; you’ve probably used them a few times yourself, and your neighbors have been raving about them. I’m talking about the crosswalk buckets and flag stations that are installed in a few troublesome intersections throughout Wallingford; and it looks like we’ll be getting some more stations soon. Hurrah!
Wallingford Community Council vice president Jon deLeeuw let us know that the WCC has funds to install and maintain 17 new crosswalk flags and bucket stations throughout the neighborhood, and he’s seeking community input on possible locations. Here’s where he thinks they should be installed:
3-4 stations along 50th
2-3 stations along 45th
4-5 stations along 40th (which already has 2-3 neighbor maintained stations)
4-5 stations along Stone WayEach station would start with 2 buckets and 6 flags. Extra flags would be available at the Neighborhood Office. I’d love to put up more (I think Wallingford Ave could use some too, not to mention below 40th), but I’ve got a limited budget.
The costs of the stations are approx $4.00/bucket, $1.45/flag, so the initial station set up is around $17 (2 buckets + 6 flags).
Currently, he hopes to have the buckets available for decoration at the Kiddie Parade and Street Fair. deLeeuw also asks if any neighbors or businesses would be interested in adopting a crosswalk flag station, ensuring that they’re stocked with flags. “From my experience watching the buckets at 45th & Burke, flags tend to disappear at the rate of 1-2 every 2-3 weeks,” he adds.
If you’re interested in adopting a crosswalk flag station, you can contact deLeeuw at [email protected] You can also leave your proposed intersections in the comments below. deLeeuw plans to give a more detailed presentation at the next WCC meeting on July 6 and he adds, “the more votes an intersection gets the more chance it will get a station.”
I find these flags patently offensive. They seem to imply that drivers shouldn’t try to be attentive enough to actually notice people unless they have day-glo accouterments. Have you ever noticed that stop signs are only red, but people seem to notice them? Why do “ped xing” signs and these flags have to be crazy bright colors? Why can’t drivers just start paying more attention?
When I cross the street (at a cross-walk, of course) I make an effort to convince the cars that I don’t even notice that they are there. That way, the burden of safety is upon them, as it should be. Me walking around at 5 MPH with my 160 pound body is nowhere near as dangerous as them driving their 1-2 ton death machine at 40 MPH.
I guess I should say I don’t know the short or long term effects of these flags. Maybe they are helpful safety tools, and I should stop my whining.
Does anyone actually use these?
The City actually did a pilot study with a number of stations around the city, and from the data they collected (although I’m not sure about their methodology), the flags do increase the rate of people stopping for pedestrians. I’ll see about getting the data to Wallyhood. Anyone who wants to see the chart can stop by Not A Number, or come to the next WCC meeting.
As far as the buckets being ugly, I tend to agree, hence the desire to have a bucket decorating booth at the Kiddie parade to add some character to them. Hopefully people will adopt intersections near their house/business, and decorate them as something they would be happy to look at every day.
I observe the buckets at 45th and Burke all day long, and yes people do use them (when they are there), especially families. Cars do stop more when a person is waving one of the flags – and kids like to use them. I know many people (myself included) view them as somewhat dorky, but the Cities data and my observations indicate that they are effective in allowing for safer crossing of the street.
The City would have expand expanded the program, but they don’t have the money (and they were paying $8.50 a flag!).
I also hope that with more neighbors involved, and more buckets around the neighborhood that the flag attrition rate will go down. I just have to wonder who steals these things!? Is there some flag collector out there paying a premium for stolen crossing flags?
PS to the anonymous person/people who maintain the flags along 40th, contact me, and I’ll see about getting you a stock of flags. Thanks for maintaining those!
Similar to what’s already on 45th/Burke, there needs to be a crosswalk at 45th and Bagley. I see many people jaywalking at this intersection going between Boulangerie/Starbucks and the Iron Bull/theaters.
Kids walking to school at JSIS that cross 40th use them all the time. We could use even more of them because people tend to speed down 40th as an alternative to 45th. The flags absolutely work.
Until the police enforce pedestrian laws, we’ll need those flags. RCW 46.04.160 states that every corner is a cross-walk whether it is marked or not. WAC 132E-16-040 states that pedestrians have the right of way in all cross-walks. In my experience, it is rare that cars stop for pedestrians on 40th street (I usually cross around Irwins) or across 34th.
I see families on Phinney Ridge near the Woodland Park Zoo using them all the time to get across Phinney. It can be hard to see pedestrians sometimes, particularly when there are illegally parked cars blocking the crosswalk view or it is near dusk, so I appreciate the flags – both as a driver and a pedestrian.
Meanwhile I stood in the crosswalk at Stone Way and the defunct 7-11 and Diva this morning and counted 12 cars go past headed southbound on Stone. Not a one stopped, despite the fact that I was standing in the northbound lane of Stone in the crosswalk and it was completely obvious I needed to cross the street. Unlike Max, I’m not brave enough to go diving into traffic and force them to stop, because knowing my luck, they wouldn’t.
@1
I do agree that the onus of safety should be upon the cars — they’re the ones who are licensed and trained to operate extremely dangerous machinery, after all. But we live in the real world: safety is the most important consideration, and if these flags reduce the number of injuries and fatalities on the road, they are absolutely worth it.
I am chilled by our society’s nonchalance towards the violence on our roads: the number one cause of death for children ages 0-18 is car accidents. But it’s a non-issue for most.
Recently I was in Kirkland and used a crosswalk with these flags. A note on the bucket stated that 63 people had been hit by cars while crossing the street in Kirkland, and none of them had the flags. I suppose they thought that this meant the flags make pedestrians safer, I assumed it meant that the kind of person who sees and decides to use these flags is also the kind of person who crosses the road safely anyways. It’s like the paradoxical relationship between crosswalk users and jaywalkers: the crosswalkers die more often because they assume they are protected by the crosswalk. Jaywalkers, who are typically more observant, die less often.
For the record, I love using these, mostly because it embarrasses my fiance adorably when I do so.
i submit that “safety” should be on YOU. if you are a driver, drive with your safety and others in mind. if you are the pedestrian, you should walk with attention and mindfulness. my home is in thailand. people there are taught and learned from birth to watch out, look around, be mindful of dangers. we think just because we have laws that we are safe. just because we have a lit walk sign, we can just walk across the street, head down lost in our thoughts. because after all I have the right of way and the law says the cars have to stop. i don’t care about the laws – i don’t want to get busted up because i didn’t look at the cars coming at me when i cross the street. in the real world, the laws only serve to make someone else pay for my hospital bill. laws or not, i don’t want to be in the hospital in the first place. the laws, lights and flags don’t protect you – you do! flags and lights help only so much as it reminds people to pay attention in the first place.
If it was up to the City, they would take out many crosswalks. Why? Because of the liability issue. People think that because there is a crosswalk that it is safe to cross the street there, and that by having a crosswalk people assume (wrongly) that the city has endorsed that as a safe place to cross. The City has been sued by people hit in crosswalks due to this misconception. People need to be vigilante when crossing the street no matter where they cross. In a collision between a car and a pedestrian, it doesn’t matter whose fault the collision is, the pedestrian is almost always the loser. The flags are a simple way to enhance communication between drivers and pedestrians, and thus lower the chances of an accident.
I want to acknowledge the Wallingford Chamber of Commerce, as it looks like they are going to contribute some money towards purchasing of flags also.
What is offensive to me and just plain treacherous is drivers going way over the 30 mph speed limit on our Wallingford arterials, such as North Pacific Street. Try crossing N Pacific without waving at the drivers or otherwise getting their attention. Try flagging down a “Duck” or CleanScapes truck going 40+ mph on the straightaway on that street. We need crossing flags at every street that intersects N. Pacific. Dunn Lumber would be a good candidate for donating materials for the flags and containers.
PS – Thanks, Jon, for providing some funds for this grass roots project. I set up a container & flags on 40th and Sunnyside a couple of years ago and gradually everything – including the flag holder and zip-ties – disappeared.
If it would be less expensive to make the flags, I’d be happy to volunteer. Seattle Fabrics is a a great source for inexpensive flag material. We could just get the dowels and cylinder materials (Dunn?) and then sew up the flags. Easy!
People need to be proactive in their safety when crossing busy streets. Yes, the burden should lay with the vehicles, but nobody should put their lives into someone else’s hands. When crossing at a cross walk, make eye contact with the drivers as they approach. A person standing at the curb and looking you in the eyes is very obvious, and it is also obvious that the pedestrian means to cross. Once you’ve stepped out in front of the first car that has spotted you and slowed to a stop, don’t walk into the next lane until you are sure they see you as well.
The flags might make you more visible in someway, but with or without them you should be actively ensuring that you are only stepping in front of vehicles that are braking for you.
The flags seem valuable as a training tool for kids to make them pause, look and make eye contact before crossing. I suspect a similar result might be had if folks waved their arms wildly about at cars before crossing 🙂
Not nearly as much fun for the kids, however. They are a great idea, but should not be necessary (they weren’t necessary 30 years ago – cars stopped!).
@13: If a driver thinks that I am willing to stop and let them drive by, they are less willing to stop for me. If they think that I will not notice them coming, then they will take the burden of safety. I do keep my eye on drivers, but I do not attempt to communicate with them until they’ve either stopped for me or blown by (like the assholes they are). I want them to think that if they don’t stop for me, they will hit me, and this thought will cause them to slow down. Of course I am prepared to jump out of the way or stop walking at the last minute if the driver does not stop, but I want to give the impression that I am going to cross regardless.
It seems to work. Other pedestrians I know who make it obvious they are paying attention to drivers are much less likely to have cars stop for them. I imagine that drivers think “he knows I’m not going to stop, so he won’t try to cross in front of me, and I won’t have to stop.” When they see an inattentive crosser, I imagine they think “whether or not I slow down, this guy is going to try to cross, and I don’t want to hit him, so I’ll stop.” It’s like playing chicken.
I can understand that people think my way of crossing is more dangerous, and it may be. However, I don’t like waiting for cars just because they are bigger, and I think they should be willing to twitch their right foot enough to stop for me, considering I have the right of way, and I am actually expending real effort to move myself around.
I don’t think making eye contact makes me any more visible. The positioning of my head and eyes are very small compared to the presence of my body, and it should be obvious with only the second that I am waiting to cross the street. Imagine a driver arguing in court that they didn’t see a pedestrian because the pedestrian hadn’t made eye contact with them. It’s ludicrous!
The crosswalk I use the most is the one between QFC and their parking lot across the street. Drivers seem to completely ignore that crosswalk, and I’ve witnessed countless close calls there. Don’t know if flags would help there, but it could definitely use some safety improvements there.
Max–I agree that you have to step out in the road to get drivers to stop. As a sometimes driver, sometimes pedestrian, I know that when I’m driving, I often wonder if a person is trying to cross or just standing there. Sometimes even after I stop the ped just stands, and then finally goes, generally just when I’m giving up and starting to move again. When I’m walking, I go in the street and look like I’m crossing, and look at the cars. Some drivers still don’t stop, but more do, because they *know* I am crossing.
I just noticed tonight that there the bucket/flag station at the crosswalk on 43rd and Wallingford (in front of the Playfield) have disappeared. Weren’t they just there….yesterday?
I think there should be a station at 41st and Wallingford as well. Lots of kids use that intersection to go to Hamilton, which is only a block west on 41st. Otherwise, kids will have to jog up to 43rd and Wallingford and use the crosswalk there, or drop down to 40th to use the light.
I’d love some along Bridge way at Albion, Woodland Park or Whitman.
As one of the initial co-conspirators of the crossing-flag project (circa 2006), this is great news! I envisioned this adopt-a-crossing concept with neighborhood flag pickup locations, so it’s great to see it finally happening. I was hoping it would be the city providing the flags (as is done in other cities, like Salt Lake City), but, considering their current financial strain, neighborhood organizations are a great substitute. (Perhaps we should all donate a little $ to the WCC to help them on this project). Thanks to the WCC for taking the ball on this!!
PS … @12 … I took down the buckets at 40th & Sunnyside a while back since they weren’t being stocked with new flags, and my Bagley flags were migrating there. That intersection seems to be a natural spot for another installation.
Max, I don’t care who would win in court, I’d just rather not get hit by a car. If that’s a comforting thought for you when dealing with traffic, then good for you, but in my opinion if anyone is arguing anything in court, then you weren’t being a careful pedestrian.
I stop for pesdestrians. I do not stop when someone is texting standing on a corner with no connection to drivers with no definite approach to the curb. Texters, doddlers, Ipod dancers, people who leave questions in my mind, I check their eyes and body movement fo rclues. sometimes it is hard to KNOW or read the MIND of pedestrians.
Truth be, we are all pedestrians at one moment or another.
Re QFC crosswalk- it is a scary one sometimes.. and I almost want to hit with my hand.. cars which cut me off as I am in the crosswalk – as always, holding ones temper is better action, but DANG!
The location at Wallingford and 43rd was selected for the crosswalk because it is at the top of a break in the hill and most visible to both northbound and southbound traffic. Even then, we had to fight pretty darn hard with SDOT to even get the crossing and curb bulb.
Please, kids should make the extra one block trip to use the safer crossing at the traffic signal or the curb bulb crossing at 43rd. Those locations are substantially safer. There is safety in numbers.
And Hamilton parents – please SLOW DOWN traveling the side streets to take your kids to school. I have witnessed many a mad-driving parent and narrow misses of school kids during the past school year.
DONATIONS NEEDED!
Demand for crossing flags and buckets is outstripping my meager budget. In order to stretch things as far as possible I’m asking for the following donations from neighbors:
1) 4″ PVC pipe, any lengths greater than 1 foot
2) 4″ PVC endcaps for the pipe
3) 3/4″ dowel rods, any lengths greater than 18 inches
PLEASE let me know if you have materials to donate – [email protected] ASAP, then plan to bring your donations to the WCC booth at the Kiddie Parade/Street fair on July 9th.
The more donations that can be raised, the more crossing flags and buckets we will be able to install around the neighborhood. Please spread the word! Thanks.
Jon, we have a separate post planned here in a little bit today.
I put a plug in for the flag project at Stoneway Hardware today when I was buying some garden supplies. Jon had suggested to me that I encourage them to donate dowels for the flags. The owner seemed politely interested, but perhaps if more regular customers let them know how great it would be for them to give to the community in this way….I know it would stretch Jon’s current budget quite a ways!