Reinstall speed cameras in Kensington now!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A woman crossing on Viers Mill not too far from this spot was hit and died of her injuries this week.

And July 2025:
"A mother was on her way home from work, crossing Veirs Mill Road within sight of her front door Saturday, when she was hit and killed in Montgomery County, Maryland."

There have been 5 fatalities in this small area of North Kensington/Wheaton since May. Three were in just over 3 weeks in May/June and 2 more in 3 days last week. Go back 18 months and you can add another one.

Why are you combining the two? They have nothing to do with each other. Viers Mill and Ennals is in the heart of commercial Wheaton.

Your Ahab like obsession HARMS efforts to make the community better and safer.

You clearly don't live in the area. People who do spend time in both Wheaton and North Kensington and both suffer from unsafe pedestrian crossings.

I do and that's why I know that they are completely different situations. Although I've never distinguished between North and South Kensington so I guess I'm just out of your loop.

Curious, not confrontational. How do you distinguish between the two areas or have you just never had a need to? Like to explain there are speed cameras on Connecticut in one section but not the other.

Oh, I get it now. This is a nascent "North Bethesda" situation.

I've never had a need to distinguish and since official Kensington is small I call all those unincorporated areas by whichever place they are closer to and add a landmark. ie: Kensington near Kaiser or Kensington near the Mormon Temple.

One thing that brings North Kensington, Kensington Heights and Wheaton together (besides their proximity to each other and two major roads in common - Veirs Mill and University) is that these areas are currently zoned to the Downcounty Consortium for schools. So unlike the other parts of Kensington that get bussed to WJ and BCC, there are a lot of kids that are considered "walkers" for high school whose families can't buy them cars and are walking across six lane roads with limited signalized crossings to get to school.

+1, we used to live in Kensington and I had always stressed out about the idea of the kids having to walk to Einstein and cross those roads in the dark in the am. That wasn’t the reason we moved, but it definitely was a relief to not have to think about that anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They need to put up physical roadblocks to slow drivers down. More stoplights and bump outs.

They should also put up fences in median strips to deter pedestrian crossings where it’s not safe.

At the same time, as tragic as each death is, pedestrian fatalities are exceedingly rare when you consider how many people and pedestrian crossings there are in the county each day. When we solve for the problem of roadway fatalities, we need to keep that in mind. Through August fatal pedestrian crashes were up 25 percent this year which sounds like a lot but in actual numbers they increased from 8 to 10.

Well now it’s 10.

But please share, what’s the magic number when we should be concerned?

+1.
To the poster writing "25%": in case you don't know the answer to PP's question, let us help you out --- the answer is the f..king number ZERO!

You could achieve zero but you’d have to eliminate all interactions between pedestrians and cars and pedestrians and bikes for that matter. It’s not going to be zero at any reasonable cost.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyamohn/2024/05/29/zero-road-deaths-a-map-of-the-world-shows-where/

[Anonymous]

From MoCo's own Vision Zero report (PDF page 18):

"Thirty-six percent of pedestrians and cyclists
were at fault in severe and fatal collisions. When
pedestrians are at fault, the top contributing
circumstances were illegally in roadway, failed to
give time and attention, clothing not visible, and
under the influence of alcohol."

Let's not blame only drivers.

https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/visionzero/Resources/Files/Vision_Zero_Data_Analysis.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From MoCo's own Vision Zero report (PDF page 18):

"Thirty-six percent of pedestrians and cyclists
were at fault in severe and fatal collisions. When
pedestrians are at fault, the top contributing
circumstances were illegally in roadway, failed to
give time and attention, clothing not visible, and
under the influence of alcohol."

Let's not blame only drivers.

https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/visionzero/Resources/Files/Vision_Zero_Data_Analysis.pdf

Saw two young men cross then run Viers Mill when traffic signal was green. No cars were coming when they started crossing and they ran when they spotted a car. If the car had been speeding, who knows

[Anonymous]

The car may not have been speeding and missed them as there are lots of blind spots, dark. It could have just been a tragic accident.

[Anonymous]

I live just a few blocks from where the boy was killed. I just drove down University Boulevard and see that there is a giant speed camera now near there and the crosswalk looks to have been repainted.

I’m sorry this thread has devolved into such ridiculous arguments over status of neighborhoods. To answer a poster from above, the Kensington ZIP Code does extend almost all the way to the mall. It is then Wheaton and pedestrian safety on those streets near there is also a concern in this neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From MoCo's own Vision Zero report (PDF page 18):

"Thirty-six percent of pedestrians and cyclists
were at fault in severe and fatal collisions. When
pedestrians are at fault, the top contributing
circumstances were illegally in roadway, failed to
give time and attention, clothing not visible, and
under the influence of alcohol."

Let's not blame only drivers.

https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/visionzero/Resources/Files/Vision_Zero_Data_Analysis.pdf

Despite the stupid concept that is contributory negligence, fault is not an “either / or”. Pedestrian may indeed have been jaywalking and the driver may be speeding. A jaywalking pedestrian may have been hit but would not have been killed without the excess speed.

[Anonymous]

No city in the country has been more aggressive with traffic cameras than DC. It has increased ticketing almost 10 fold. The city issues more than three million tickets annually. Guess what happened? Traffic deaths went up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From MoCo's own Vision Zero report (PDF page 18):

"Thirty-six percent of pedestrians and cyclists
were at fault in severe and fatal collisions. When
pedestrians are at fault, the top contributing
circumstances were illegally in roadway, failed to
give time and attention, clothing not visible, and
under the influence of alcohol."

Let's not blame only drivers.

https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/visionzero/Resources/Files/Vision_Zero_Data_Analysis.pdf

Despite the stupid concept that is contributory negligence, fault is not an “either / or”. Pedestrian may indeed have been jaywalking and the driver may be speeding. A jaywalking pedestrian may have been hit but would not have been killed without the excess speed.

Who says there was "excess speed"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The car may not have been speeding and missed them as there are lots of blind spots, dark. It could have just been a tragic accident.

This was a crash. An accident implies it couldn’t have been prevented. Vehicle speed, blind spots, and inadequate lighting are all things that could have been mitigated making this a preventable death.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The car may not have been speeding and missed them as there are lots of blind spots, dark. It could have just been a tragic accident.

This was a crash. An accident implies it couldn’t have been prevented. Vehicle speed, blind spots, and inadequate lighting are all things that could have been mitigated making this a preventable death.

These word games re: crash and accidents are stupid and annoying. Some accidents can't be prevented, and it doesn't matter what steps the government takes. Preventing people from doing things they didn't intend to do is not a question of political will.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From MoCo's own Vision Zero report (PDF page 18):

"Thirty-six percent of pedestrians and cyclists
were at fault in severe and fatal collisions. When
pedestrians are at fault, the top contributing
circumstances were illegally in roadway, failed to
give time and attention, clothing not visible, and
under the influence of alcohol."

Let's not blame only drivers.

https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/visionzero/Resources/Files/Vision_Zero_Data_Analysis.pdf

Despite the stupid concept that is contributory negligence, fault is not an “either / or”. Pedestrian may indeed have been jaywalking and the driver may be speeding. A jaywalking pedestrian may have been hit but would not have been killed without the excess speed.

The goal is to prevent accidents. Creating a better accident is not the solution.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The car may not have been speeding and missed them as there are lots of blind spots, dark. It could have just been a tragic accident.

This was a crash. An accident implies it couldn’t have been prevented. Vehicle speed, blind spots, and inadequate lighting are all things that could have been mitigated making this a preventable death.

These word games re: crash and accidents are stupid and annoying. Some accidents can't be prevented, and it doesn't matter what steps the government takes. Preventing people from doing things they didn't intend to do is not a question of political will.

Yes, that’s what I said. Accidents can’t be prevented.

PP said speed could have been a factor. Preventable.
PP said it could have been a blind spot. Preventable.
PP said it could have been dark. Preventable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From MoCo's own Vision Zero report (PDF page 18):

"Thirty-six percent of pedestrians and cyclists
were at fault in severe and fatal collisions. When
pedestrians are at fault, the top contributing
circumstances were illegally in roadway, failed to
give time and attention, clothing not visible, and
under the influence of alcohol."

Let's not blame only drivers.

https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/visionzero/Resources/Files/Vision_Zero_Data_Analysis.pdf

Despite the stupid concept that is contributory negligence, fault is not an “either / or”. Pedestrian may indeed have been jaywalking and the driver may be speeding. A jaywalking pedestrian may have been hit but would not have been killed without the excess speed.

The goal is to prevent accidents. Creating a better accident is not the solution.

What on earth is this false dichotomy? With a "better accident," that kid is alive today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From MoCo's own Vision Zero report (PDF page 18):

"Thirty-six percent of pedestrians and cyclists
were at fault in severe and fatal collisions. When
pedestrians are at fault, the top contributing
circumstances were illegally in roadway, failed to
give time and attention, clothing not visible, and
under the influence of alcohol."

Let's not blame only drivers.

https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/visionzero/Resources/Files/Vision_Zero_Data_Analysis.pdf

Despite the stupid concept that is contributory negligence, fault is not an “either / or”. Pedestrian may indeed have been jaywalking and the driver may be speeding. A jaywalking pedestrian may have been hit but would not have been killed without the excess speed.

We don’t know. Stop speculating. A life was lost.