As the Eureka Traffic Officer says in an article in today’s Times-Standard, “It doesn’t really matter who’s at fault when you end up in the hospital…the pedestrian will always lose.” So maybe we should shift some of the focus away from the people involved in specific accidents and toward the infrastructure! Our roads are often dangerous for pedestrians and bicyclists. Better crosswalk markings and signage seem to have made a difference already in pedestrian safety in Eureka. Imagine how much safer we could be with roads that were actually designed for multimodal transportation – rather than being designed for cars and trucks, with other users just an afterthought!
From the Times-Standard:
“…Crosswalk countdown signals — noting how much time a pedestrian has to get across the street before the light changes — as well as more visible markers at such locations on West Avenue near Silvercrest as well as the police department’s targeted enforcement may have all contributed to fewer pedestrian vs. vehicle accidents this summer, she said.
While the EPD only tracks pedestrian fatalities within the city limits, 2015 has also been a deadly year for pedestrians in the northern Humboldt County area outside of the Eureka city limits — from south of Scotia to the Del Norte County line and inland to Trinity and Siskiyou counties….”