[Vision2020] one injured in bop-a-student crossing

[Art Deco]

Here's an issue that has not been brought up recently:  the lax enforcement of traffic laws in Moscow.

I come to Moscow almost daily.  There hasn't been a day in recent memory that I haven't seen at least one case of a vehicle running a stop sign or a stop signal.  

Almost everyday I see a vehicle run the beginning of the red light when turning left from Washington onto 3rd.  Sometimes a stream of cars continues turning from Washington onto 3rd for several seconds after the light has turned green for traffic on third street.  

I have witnessed many times vehicles running the red light at 6th and Jackson.  Discussion with another person familiar with that area confirms this observation.  

Unless statistics have recently changed, and if alcohol is removed as a factor (because it crosses all violations), failure to stop at stop signs or traffic signals is the largest cause of vehicle and vehicle/pedestrian fatalities and serious injury collisions in the United States.

Kai mentioned a near miss at the crosswalk on Jackson in front of the Daily News building.  For most dangerous crosswalks, that crosswalk is tied with the ones crossing Washington at 4th, right at the Moscow City Police Station!

Moscow and Pullman both have the most pedestrian unfriendly traffic of anywhere I travel as well as the scariest stop sign/stop light problem.  They are worse than Spokane which also has a real problem.  And yes, both Moscow and Pullman have more than their share of careless (clueless) pedestrians and cyclists.

Part of the solution is greatly stepped up traffic law enforcement for both vehicles, cyclists, and pedestrians.  Appended below is an article about an approach Spokane is taking.  It is similar (but not as devious) to an approach that worked very effectively in another place that I lived.

Traffic enforcement policy is basically the domain of the police department and their overseers, the city council.  Along with increased enforcement, it doesn't hurt to have continuing education/reminders in the form of PSA in all the media.

Moscow has hired a motorcycle policemen for traffic enforcement.  Unfortunately, in my observation, the number of stop sign/red light runners and pedestrians in the crosswalk violators does not seem to have diminished.

If the citizens of Moscow are truly concerned, then the city council should use their powers to persuade the MPD to do a much better job at traffic enforcement.  Besides making Moscow streets safer, such increased enforcement might drastically reduce the time the MPD officers spend responding to and writing reports on collisions.


Art Deco
deco at moscow.com

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     Wednesday, September 24, 2008 


Spokane

In brief: Tickets aplenty in crosswalk sting

September 24, 2008

Spokane police spent more than 1 1/2 hours Tuesday working a well-marked crosswalk at Hamilton Street and Desmet Avenue after neighbors near Gonzaga University expressed concern about pedestrians in the area, said Spokane Police Officer Teresa Fuller. 

A plainclothes officer was used as a decoy student trying to cross the street.

Thirty-five citations were given for failure to yield right of way to a pedestrian, Fuller said. 

"Drivers are reminded that not all crosswalks are marked. In fact, most crosswalks in the city are not," Fuller said. "Other citations included no insurance and drivers whose licenses were suspended. Officers also wrote up two pedestrians for failing to obey a no crossing sign."

     
According to state law, a driver must stay stopped after a pedestrian or bicyclist has stepped midway into a lane of traffic at a marked or unmarked intersection. Pedestrians do not have the right of way when they try to cross the street midblock.

To report areas with repeated violations call the Traffic Hotline at (509) 625-4150.




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