Crosswalk clocks soften gamble of crossing street

Some of us walk more slowly than others, that's a simple fact of life. When the area's traffic mavens decide how long a Walk/Don't Walk cycle should be, they try to calculate the time it would take some of the slower walkers among us to safely negotiate an intersection.

I walk reasonably fast. Jessie, on the other hand, walks a little slower because she simply must stop and smell everything along the way. So it isn't unusual for me to stand at a curb just as the Walk changes to Don't Walk and wonder if we can make it. Generally, if Jessie is with me, I don't try.

Now, a new technology is being tested down in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea that could take the guesswork out of crossing the street. It's a digital timer with red glowing numbers that come on after the Walk signal changes to Don't Walk. The timer counts down the seconds pedestrians have to get across the road before traffic starts moving.

According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Gail Nelson, Juno Beach's town manager, saw the signals while attending a convention in Salt Lake City last year and thought they would be perfect for her oceanfront community with its large elderly population.

"I was so taken with these things," Nelson said. "I've been with people trying to cross busy intersections. And they absolutely don't understand what it means when the signal starts flashing orange. They think they have to run like hell to get across the street."

State and federal officials are watching to see if the clocks are effective and improve safety for pedestrians before approving them for general use in Florida. But early indications are good.

Pedestrian safety has garnered more attention in recent years. The latest tools available to highway engineers include the countdown clocks and crosswalks that light up at night when someone steps onto the asphalt.

The Federal Highway Administration says that every year about 6,000 pedestrians are killed and 90,000 injured. A pedestrian or bicyclist is struck every 31/2 minutes, the agency says. Pinellas County has a particularly bad record of pedestrian safety.

Earlier this year, some of San Francisco's most dangerous intersections recorded a 63 percent drop in pedestrian injuries after countdown clocks were installed.

The clocks start counting down when a pedestrian presses the button to cross the street.

We think this is a perfectly spiffy idea. It isn't being tested anywhere in Pinellas County, but officials here say they are keeping a close watch on the Lauderdale experiment. If the state eventually approves the system, you'll probably see it here.

And that would be a good thing. Pedestrian/car conflicts are epidemic in Pinellas County.

We'll bring you more as we hear news.

Do you get a little steamed when you see somebody parking in a disabled spot without a permit? Do you get tired of seeing an abandoned vehicle parked by the side of the road for several days on end?

Well, now you can help do something about it.

The St. Petersburg Police Department is looking for volunteers to help tag and impound abandoned vehicles, to assist in traffic control at accident sites and to direct traffic around fire scenes.

They also are looking for disabled volunteers to patrol in their own vehicles, citing motorists who violate disabled parking regulations. Fuel reimbursement will be provided to these volunteers.

Applicants will be subjected to a background check and must complete state-mandated training, be at least 19 years old and be able to volunteer eight to 12 hours a month. For more information, call Officer Jim Giambruno at 893-7141, or go online at: www.stpete.org/police/road_patrol.htm

It is inevitable. Summer rains, especially the intense variety we've been getting, play havoc with pavement. Our most recent encounter was on Third Street S between Fourth and Third avenues. Almost the entire left lane is a torn-up mess and earns our dubious distinction, the Eyeball Jiggler of the Week.

Beware.

We heard recently from an irritated reader from Seminole, who got caught up in the traffic backup from a minor fender-bender during a Friday rush hour on Park Boulevard in Pinellas Park.

Apparently, the two drivers involved in the mishap stopped their cars in the middle lane, backing up traffic from 66th Street to 49th Street.

It is the law, the reader said, that they must move their cars out of traffic.

Well, not quite. We looked it up, and to clear up any confusion, this is the exact language of the Florida statutes.

"Every stop must be made without obstructing traffic more than is necessary, and, if a damaged vehicle is obstructing traffic, the driver of such vehicle must make every reasonable effort to move the vehicle or have it moved so as not to block the regular flow of traffic. Any person failing to comply with this subsection shall be cited for a nonmoving violation . . ."

Still, the reader's point is well-taken.

If it really is just a fender-bender, and the circumstances of the accident aren't in dispute, take the vehicles out of traffic.

It's not only the courteous thing to do for other drivers, it's safer for you.

Dr. Delay's Terrible Traffic Tidbits are a mixed bag this week. One's terrible. One's terrific. Bad news first.

-- Motorcycle fatalities nationwide increased last year for the fourth year in a row, following years of steady decreases, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. With 3,181 fatalities, 2001 saw the highest number of motorcycle deaths since 1990.

-- Good news: Highway fatalities among children younger than 15 reached a historic low last year, NHTSA tells us. There were 649 fatalities last year, an 8.6 percent decrease from the 710 deaths in 2000.

-- Dr. Delay can be reached by e-mail at docdelay@sptimes.com, by fax at (727) 893-8675 or by snail mail at 490 First Ave. S, St. Petersburg 33701.

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