Pedestrian safety
Remember how quickly the city and state got their act together after a couple of serious pedestrian accidents on Broad Street near Perry? That's where Duke students and staff cross to get from East Campus to Ninth Street and Whole Foods. Guidelines were bent to put a traffic signal there, even though it's fairly close to the signal at Broad and Main, and the signal itself is activated by pedestrians. There's also enough signage that you couldn't miss it if you tried.
Up on Guess Road near Horton, meanwhile, a pedestrian fatality (a high school student who had missed her bus and was walking to Riverside) a few years ago didn't inspire anything more than sticking the radar wagon on the roadway for a couple of days. There've been one or two more serious injuries in the past couple of years there, too. Here's details on the latest:
Want to bet nothing happens to make that stretch of road safer for pedestrians?
Up on Guess Road near Horton, meanwhile, a pedestrian fatality (a high school student who had missed her bus and was walking to Riverside) a few years ago didn't inspire anything more than sticking the radar wagon on the roadway for a couple of days. There've been one or two more serious injuries in the past couple of years there, too. Here's details on the latest:
Allison Lauren Winokur, 22, remained in critical condition Tuesday night at Duke University Hospital after being struck and seriously injured by an SUV driven by Christopher Scott Taylor, also 22, on Monday, according to police.
Winokur, who lives on Guess Road, was struck while trying to cross Guess Road near Horton Road, police said. She was transported to Duke Hospital with what police called "life threatening injuries."
Taylor, who lives on Newcastle Road, was driving a 1996 Chevrolet Blazer, police said. No charges had been filed as of Tuesday, but the accident remains under investigation.
Want to bet nothing happens to make that stretch of road safer for pedestrians?
Labels: Pedestrian safety
Since 1949, Durhamites have slept soundly, secure in the knowledge that, in our town, erection can be depended upon. Now, thanks to the power of the internets, we can spread that security all over the world.
3 Comments:
Barry - last summer I moved to North Durham (from 9th Street) and I travel Horton Road from Duke to Guess about every other day. I am stunned by the number of people who walk along that road -- it has no walking lanes at all for most of that stretch. Typically it's adults walking with small children even as late as 9 pm. The margin for error for a distracted driver is so small because the pedestrians are forced to walk right beside the road. I'm always stunned that someone isn't killed. I wonder if this pedestrian had made the same walk prior to that intersection (which has become even busier with the increased interest in the spiffy HT).
By
Steve Jones, at 6:44 PM
There's also not a single crosswalk or anything else to slow down vehicles between Carver and Horton. Plus, the road is an extra-wide 5 lanes all the way. It's engineered for at least a 45 or 50 mph comfort zone, and that's what people do.
Thank you , NCDOT.
By
Barry, at 9:08 PM
It's of the utmost important that no Duke student is ever injured or inconvenienced.
Too bad we can't apply that standard to the taxpayers of Durham.
By
Tony, at 7:42 PM
Post a Comment
<< Home