Reply to The death of Allie Hart and the need for safer streets

Forum Index » Metropolitan DC Local Politics

Reply to "The death of Allie Hart and the need for safer streets"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Does anyone know what actually happened?

It seems like the dad shouldn't have let a small child bike across the crosswalk alone.  But is that what happened?[/quote]

The driver hit the child in a crosswalk and killed her. That's what happened.[/quote]

Did she dart out on her bike or was she watching for traffic?  Where was the dad?  The the truck stop at the stop sign?  [/quote]

She was five. There are no circumstances where it's acceptable for a five-year-old to be killed by a driver. Instead of asking whom to blame, please ask how to prevent this from happening to others. What can we do to make streets that are safe for five-year-olds?

[/quote]

There is nothing you can do to prevent this from happening again, ok. It is absolutely tragic and it's horrible, but pedestrian deaths are a fact of life.

Driving is not taken seriously in this country. People just don't pay attention. But I don't think you or anyone else can change those things.[/quote]

Here are five things off the top of my head that can be done to reduce pedestrian fatalities:

1) Revise criminal code to make it manslaughter if you kill a pedestrian in a crosswalk and actually prosecute it
[b]2) Daylight every single intersection in the city with bollards- make it so the last one or two parking spaces are taken away and are open to improve nightlines[/b]
3) Lobby the federal government to require things like side flaps and better nightlines in vehicles (this is already being done by several advocacy groups)
4) Increase enforcement of things like speeding, running redlights
5) Redesign roads to naturally slow down drivers- bulbouts, speed bumps, chicanes etc

None of these are quick fixes but if people keep lobbying local and federal officials, only voting for council members with records of introducing safe streets legislation etc then they can gradually change.

[/quote]

And more rules around construction. So many places where those temporary walkways, sheds, dumpsters, etc. make it impossible to for drivers to see around corners before turning, and that make the sidewalk unusable, forcing pedestrians to walk in the street or cross where it's not safe.

Other countries do that differently. Agree with PPs that it feels like we are completely indifferent to pedestrian safety and deaths here.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics