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Letter to the editor

Until drivers wise up, walkers must beware

The Tampa Bay area keeps getting publicity it doesn't want because of the dangers pedestrians face on its roadways.

And the Largo Police Department keeps trying to make that city's streets safer for walkers. The question is, are motorists heeding the department's efforts?

The Largo department has a reputation for being one of the most aggressive squads in the region when it comes to enforcing speed limits. Largo officers have even used disguises in an attempt to catch more violators, believing that doing so will cause motorists to slow down and result in safer streets for both drivers and pedestrians.

That isn't all the department is doing.

A few weeks ago, police set up at one of the new pedestrian crosswalks on Clearwater-Largo Road on a Friday morning. The new crosswalks, well-marked with a different pavement treatment and pedestrian crossing signs, are part of the Clearwater-Largo Road streetscaping project, which was designed to turn that four-lane commercial roadway into a friendlier pedestrian environment with slower traffic flow.

Largo police wanted to find out whether motorists were heeding the signs that said cars must yield to pedestrians in crosswalks.

The answer they got: uh, no.

For two hours, the police watched cars blow through the crosswalks. They chose to stop only southbound cars that failed to yield. In only two hours, they stopped 91 cars that did not yield to pedestrians who were using the marked crosswalks.

The police issued warnings to the 91 motorists, along with educational materials showing how many pedestrians are hurt or killed each year and explaining the law requiring them to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks.

It is easy to miss the appearance of a new crosswalk on a road you are accustomed to traveling almost by instinct. However, these were multiple crosswalks distinguished by pavement markings and big yellow signs.

When 91 motorists - and that was only those going south! - fail to stop for people moving in a crosswalk, that is a sign of either ignorance of the law or carelessness on a fairly monumental scale.

The Largo Police Department, no doubt, will have to conduct multiple enforcement details along Clearwater-Largo Road before motorists get the message.

Even that may not do the trick. Look at the much-publicized problem in Pinellas of motorists routinely and illegally passing stopped school buses. Bus drivers report that they wave or blow their horns to get these motorists to notice the bus and stop, but their efforts often fail.

Vehicles can be deadly weapons when driven by motorists determined to pass stopped school buses or speed through crosswalks. Despite the Police Department's efforts to change the behavior of motorists, pedestrians using the new crosswalks on Clearwater-Largo Road would be wise to check the traffic before they step onto the pavement.

[Last modified December 22, 2007, 21:48:00]