Post by bennyp81 on Jun 15, 2005 10:25:55 GMT -8
Bart Reed
User ID: 1606604 May 10th 11:21 PM
San Francisco Examiner: Monday, April 28, 2003
Streets of S.F. risky for walkers
By Alison Soltau
Of The Examiner Staff
Being a pedestrian in San Francisco is still like taking a walk on the wild side, according to a new study showing that The City has the fourth-highest rate of pedestrian deaths in the United States for cities of more than 100,000 people.
Eclipsed by Detroit, the city that deifies the automobile, San Francisco still accounted for an average of 30 pedestrian deaths a year for the period 1998 to 2002, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The blame can be placed equally on jaywalkers and motorists running red lights, said Frank Mark-owitz, of San Francisco's Department of Parking and Traffic.
But when one considers that San Franciscans walk more than their more sedentary counterparts in cities such as Los Angeles, the pedestrian fatality rate is not as bad as it could have been, Markowitz said.
Markowitz added that the statistics cover only part of 2002 and that recently implemented safety measures might be helping to further reduce the pedestrian toll.
These include the installation of rest stops on wide streets such as Van Ness Avenue, so that pedestrians can break up their journey and allow
cars to go through, and timed lights counting down the seconds pedestrians have left to safely cross a given street.
Markowitz disagreed that the latter measure was encouraging a San Franciscan pastime of making a kamikaze-style dash across a street with only several seconds left on the clock.
He said a pilot study showed that the timer had reduced the number of pedestrian injuries.
The City plans to install several more red-light cameras and brighter fluorescent signs warning motorists of the dangers of turning right at intersections without first checking for
pedestrians crossing at those walkways.
A spokesman for the San Francisco Police Depart-ment's traffic division, who asked not to be named, said that motorists and jaywalkers were equally culpable when it came to the cause of
pedestrian deaths.
"People are just in such a hurry to get somewhere,
and they need to realize that they can take a few more seconds getting there rather than face the alternative of getting injured or killed," he said. The most dangerous areas for pedestrians were the Mission Street corridor and the Tenderloin district generally, he said.
The City, Markowitz added, is planning to install in Tenderloin streets a series of warning signs reminding drivers that the area is not only a hub of urban activity but also a neighborhood, with
children.
The most tragic reminder of the need to slow down and heed pedestrians is 4-year-old Elizabeth Dominguez, allegedly struck down by a Municipal Railway truck on Feb. 11 near the intersection of
24th Street and Potrero Avenue.
Since the girl's death, The City has installed special signage and yellow pedestrian stripes at the notoriously dangerous intersection, Markowitz
said.
Þ-®-Þ-®-Þ
User ID: 1606604 May 10th 11:21 PM
San Francisco Examiner: Monday, April 28, 2003
Streets of S.F. risky for walkers
By Alison Soltau
Of The Examiner Staff
Being a pedestrian in San Francisco is still like taking a walk on the wild side, according to a new study showing that The City has the fourth-highest rate of pedestrian deaths in the United States for cities of more than 100,000 people.
Eclipsed by Detroit, the city that deifies the automobile, San Francisco still accounted for an average of 30 pedestrian deaths a year for the period 1998 to 2002, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The blame can be placed equally on jaywalkers and motorists running red lights, said Frank Mark-owitz, of San Francisco's Department of Parking and Traffic.
But when one considers that San Franciscans walk more than their more sedentary counterparts in cities such as Los Angeles, the pedestrian fatality rate is not as bad as it could have been, Markowitz said.
Markowitz added that the statistics cover only part of 2002 and that recently implemented safety measures might be helping to further reduce the pedestrian toll.
These include the installation of rest stops on wide streets such as Van Ness Avenue, so that pedestrians can break up their journey and allow
cars to go through, and timed lights counting down the seconds pedestrians have left to safely cross a given street.
Markowitz disagreed that the latter measure was encouraging a San Franciscan pastime of making a kamikaze-style dash across a street with only several seconds left on the clock.
He said a pilot study showed that the timer had reduced the number of pedestrian injuries.
The City plans to install several more red-light cameras and brighter fluorescent signs warning motorists of the dangers of turning right at intersections without first checking for
pedestrians crossing at those walkways.
A spokesman for the San Francisco Police Depart-ment's traffic division, who asked not to be named, said that motorists and jaywalkers were equally culpable when it came to the cause of
pedestrian deaths.
"People are just in such a hurry to get somewhere,
and they need to realize that they can take a few more seconds getting there rather than face the alternative of getting injured or killed," he said. The most dangerous areas for pedestrians were the Mission Street corridor and the Tenderloin district generally, he said.
The City, Markowitz added, is planning to install in Tenderloin streets a series of warning signs reminding drivers that the area is not only a hub of urban activity but also a neighborhood, with
children.
The most tragic reminder of the need to slow down and heed pedestrians is 4-year-old Elizabeth Dominguez, allegedly struck down by a Municipal Railway truck on Feb. 11 near the intersection of
24th Street and Potrero Avenue.
Since the girl's death, The City has installed special signage and yellow pedestrian stripes at the notoriously dangerous intersection, Markowitz
said.
Þ-®-Þ-®-Þ