Sue writes:
12 year old boy was hit by a car this afternoon on 40th and Corliss. He was on his way to a friend’s birthday party but ended up at Harbor View instead. Traffic is getting out of control in Wallingford. Lived here for 31 years. Sad!
Best wishes to the boy and his family. Be safe out there.
The boy is going to be fine. Broken leg and right eye contusion. First driver stopped and waved him on; second driver going in opposite direction didn’t stop or didn’t see him.
I was at the scene & am so glad to hear that his injuries aren’t more extensive! I also wanted to clarify in case there is any confusion on the last comment that the driver who hit him didn’t leave the scene; he stopped & stayed to speak with police. This was a huge reminder to me to speak with my kids about the dangers of crossing when one car waves you on, and to instead wait for a true break in traffic. Please, use this as a teaching moment with your kids!
We’ve been trying to get a traffic signal precisely in this location for years because 40th effectively cuts Wallingford in two. We can engineer a solution.
And also, yes, we need to teach our children to look both ways before crossing the street, but have you ever tried to cross N 40th St (or 45th, or 50th, or Stone)? I think this is also a teaching moment for people who drive. Pedestrian death ranks as the third leading cause of accidental injury death for children aged 1 to 15.
Reducing the speed limit on 40th to 25 and enforcing it would mitigate some of these issues. I don’t think additional traffic signals are the answer — most pedestrians won’t necessarily go out of there way to cross at a signal. Pedestrian activated demand signals usually change so slowly that many people will just cross without waiting for the signal. There has also been a significant increase in heavy truck traffic on 40th that should probably be rerouted to NE Pacific.
Did the driver in this case get a ticket for failure to yield to the pedestrian? Curious.
40th was designed to be a through-way, with no stops or lights. IMHO, putting a crosswalk is a false sense of security. It won’t be changed until there’s a stop, preferably around Corliss/Sunnyside where the elevation change lies.
My sympathies to the victim, and also to the driver who (hopefully) feels terrible.
However, I should point out that this was not necessarily an “accident”: the driver could’ve been negligently distracted, impaired, or otherwise not exercising the due care & skill operating a motor vehicle requires. While I’m sure the driver didn’t mean to hit the child, only a detailed police investigation can rule on that.
Please use “collision” or “crash” when reporting these stories. SDOT & WSDOT have (mostly) switched to using this neutral terminology, which does not assume faultless behavior on behalf of anyone involved.
Additionally, several other commenters on this thread have pointed to design flaws on the 40th, which makes this area particularly dangerous to travellers. Every morning, I see people driving far too fast on this section of 40th: given how close people (illegally) park next to corners, in order to check all 4 corners of an intersection and stop for someone waiting to cross (as is legally required), you probably can’t legally & safely go more than 10-15 mph on this road.
At the root of this problem is East West City travel. The overflow is huge. i know many Ballard commuters who don’t take 50th , they get off and meander thru Tangletown 56th or 40th We have I 5 and 99 N and S but to get to Ballard from I 5 everyone is coming though Wallingford. Ballard population has exploded. This is hard problem to solve, I dare say once we it is done Bertha need to be drilling the viaduct tunnel perhaps a new tunnel from Ballard to Ship Canal. It will cost, but Seattle wants to grow big you have to pay big.
Trev is correct. With 50th “lane dieted” down to 1 lane either direction and 45th “Bus bulbed” – free-flowing streets like 40th receive more traffic. East-West travel from Ballard/Fremont is a big problem.
only going to get worse. Brooks moving in (they will drive) and 2 large holes and demos occurring on Stone presently.
If will also get worse if the pending cuts to Metro service come to fruition. Cutting public transit during times of growth is ridiculous.