Those stupid, drunk pedestrians  For some reason, most police efforts on pedestrian safety focus on pedestrians and not motorists. Maybe it's because they're easier to catch and intimidate. But aren't drivers in 2 and 3,000 pound vehicles the ones doing the damage? Even the police admit that the majority of the time motorists are at fault in pedestrian crashes. In Europe, motorists are often accused of being at fault in pedestrian crashes regardless of the actions of the pedestrian. Drivers are taught in drivers ed classes to always be aware of the possibility of a pedestrian darting into the road.

The following is from an article in the Washington Post on April 24, 2005. According to the Fairfax County police, the number one problem in pedestrian crashes is "People getting drunk and trying to cross a five- or six-lane road where the speed limit’s 45 miles per hour." Not inconsiderate motorists who don't stop on right turn on red, who usually go 10-20 mph over the speed limit, who bully pedestrians trying to cross the street, whether they're in a crosswalk or not.

Questions and Answers With. . .

As traffic thickens on area roads, police have become increasingly bedeviled by problems with pedestrian safety - both pedestrians walking lawfully in crosswalks and those darting out into traffic. Last Monday, a District resident who frequently complained about bad drivers was struck and killed as he used a crosswalk at 16th and U streets NW.

Last year, 17 pedestrians died in accidents in Fairfax County. Officers in the Mount Vernon area of Fairfax launched a month-long initiative in March to reduce pedestrian accidents, using education and enforcement tactics, particularly in the area along Route 1.

This month, the county's traffic division is targeting potentially dangerous high-traffic areas in McLean, Franconia and Mount Vernon. Capt. Mike Kline, commander of the Mount Vernon station, recently spoke with staff writer Tom Jackman about how the police are trying to reduce deaths and injuries among people walking near or across major roads.

Q Are the people who are being struck by cars typically in crosswalks or out?

They're out of the crosswalks.

So who isn't getting the message to cross the street in crosswalks?

I don't know. We spent a couple of weeks before we did the actual enforcement distributing educational letters in English and Spanish to the local papers, and we posted them at bus stops, convenience stores and apartment complexes. We asked apartment managers to distribute them to tenants. We sent them home with backpacks at elementary schools. We had social services assist us with distributing them.

Then what did you do?

During the week of spring break, we used neighborhood officers, school resource officers and auxiliary officers to patrol Route 1. I’ve worked down here 14 of my 23 years on the department, and pedestrian accidents have been a historical problem on Route 1, with people getting [struck] by cars as they walk across the street.

It just seemed to me, as the weather was warming up, more pedestrians were coming out. I decided to up the ante. We wrote 95 tickets for pedestrian violations, and another 4O-plus warnings. And of all the people who we stopped for that, we didn't get one complaint.

Do drivers observe the crosswalks?

I think they do. Our intentions are, if there are violations, stop people. And we've even been writing tickets to the people who've been hit by cars, if they were in violation.

What's your expectation now?

You'd hope the word gets out. As I drive up and down Route 1, I’ve not seen people doing the "darting out" thing as much.

What's the biggest problem contributing to all these accidents?

People getting drunk and trying to cross a five- or six-lane road where the speed limit’s 45 miles per hour. It seems to happen during the dusk-type hours. And not all just on Route 1. A lot of the people who are hit, their [blood alcohol content] is up over 0.30. That’s been the number-one problem.

posted by Bruce Wright at 11:00 PM #