This morning I read an AP story about pedestrian safety programs, which struck a chord with me. Being more of a pedestrian than a driver these days, I’ve developed an adversarial relationship towards bad drivers which reached a low a few years ago when I almost got hit by a couple of cars at N and 15th Streets NW near my former apartment. There are no traffic lights or stop signs at that intersection, and because it is so close to a major traffic-lighted intersection at Massachusetts Avenue, when the light there turns green, cars come zooming through. One night as I was crossing, two cars in adjacent lanes didn’t stop, and so I ended up being caught in the middle of the crosswalk as one car ran right in front of me and another behind me. It was terrifying. I started to periodically use a different intersection to get to my block, especially at night.
Anyway, the article talks about having pedestrians carry orange flags at dangerous intersections. Such programs, now being tested at two locations in D.C., have worked in some cities, but not in others. The bottom line, as one woman puts it: “Having the law on your side and knowing you’re right doesn’t prevent you from getting hit by a car.”