Supervisors considering tougher rules to protect pedestrians
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is considering amending the County Code to require drivers to stop – not just yield – for pedestrians.
At its April 16 meeting, the board authorized a public hearing to be held on May 7 on a new rule to require drivers to stop for pedestrians crossing in the driver’s lane, in an adjacent lane, or approaching the driver’s lane.
New signs would be installed at 680 locations at a cost of $95,000. The funds have already been approved in the FCDOT’s budget.
Police will still be able to enforce the rule requiring drivers to stop for pedestrians at intersections without the sign, said Gregg Steverson, acting director of the Fairfax County Department of Transportation. But an additional fine could not be imposed unless one of those signs is present.
How about citing the pedestrians who cross illegally? That is what I see every day. In Seven Corners, people are too lazy to use the bridge and just run across Arlington Blvd. You can’t legislate away stupidity.
Extra fines are ok for drivers that don’t slow or stop for pedestrians, but it is a two way street. Shouldn’t pedestrians use some common sense instead of just stepping out in traffic? Driving through the Culmore area is horrendous. The cars are illegally parked at the ends of streets, police ignore the parking violations and the people walk out into the street without thinking that drivers may not see them.
Yes, cars are parked in the crosswalks all through Culmore, every night . Police do not ignore the violations, if you call it in, they will write tickets.
In the past two days, I have seen three different pedestrians run across the 6 lane Gallows Road. They would only have had to walk a quarter of a block to get to an intersection with a traffic light. Why aren’t they cited? Also, what does it mean for pedestrians “approaching a driver’s lane”? Do we have to figure out whether that person is just walking, waiting on the bus or is actually going to cross the street before they get to the driver’s lane. That is a tough call for a driver.
I agree. The increase in pedestrian jaywalking in Fairfax County over the past 5-10 years is truly excessive. There are certain areas that I try not to drive through at all to avoid having scary near-misses with people streaming across the road, at all hours of the day and night. The area near Rt. 1 and Jeff Todd way is horrible – though there are places all along Rt. 1 that have a lot of pedestrian jaywalking. I will go miles out of my way to avoid areas with people in the roads everywhere. I think there is a very strong cultural component here, and the county should consider ways to educate non-English speaking/recently arrived residents in appropriate, safe, and legal ways to cross roads. There should also be a requirement for any new development to show how it’ll provide more pedestrian friendly spaces.
There is an increase in jaywalking in the area – people need to be educated on crossing at lights, but also putting a painted crosswalk on a 40MPH road where people are regularly going 50MPH gives a false sense of security to pedestrians. I stop at the spot on Little River Turnpike near Old Columbia Pike when I see someone crossing but most people don’t – they just speed up through there. I recall a few years ago when there was a crushed baby stroller and cops writing up an accident there. We don’t need signs that divert attention from the road – we need flashing lights that can be used by pedestrians when they need to use a crossing and rumble strips near designated crossings to forcibly slow down the traffic.
I like this. Especially that intersection where a dear friend was killed in her Volvo! Not being a pedestrian. That is a very bad intersection!
Traffic “HAWKS” signage works
More people will end up dying than being saved if drivers suddenly stop in the middle of the road. Goodness.
My thoughts exactly. With the way people drive around here, speeding and tailgating, braking suddenly will cause the car behind you to rear end you, which will cause an accordion effect, possibly hitting the pedestrian. I experienced this. Car in front of me slammed on the brakes because a jaywalker walked into the street. I slammed on my brakes and stopped in time, but the lady behind me didn’t and hit me going 35 mph according to crash reconstruction people. This rammed me into the car in front of me and the man must have let his foot off the brakes because he rolled right over the pedestrian and crushed his leg. The pedestrian caused it and now the drivers are in an insurance nightmare. My car was totaled.
If existing laws were enforced this would not be an issue. Start fining people for jaywalking from Leesburg Pike Plaza to Seven Corners.
What about citing the drivers that block the intersection and crosswalks? I have seen pedestrians unable to cross at Little River and Backlick Road because cars block this intersection.
Funny you can see the crosswalk in that pic!
I am not seeing a crosswalk in the picture.
Bad driver run over and hit everything. They are everywhere…avoiding them is a full time job.
Bad pedestrians wear black at night- don’t look both ways – and always seem to be standing in a road or parking lot….its hard not to run them over.
Here is a tip on how not to be hit by a car….don’t be in the street.
Why not enforce the existing rules and Traffic Regulations then use the funds to add more controlled crosswalks. Also side walks are a great invention. Requiring vehicles in motion to stand on the breaks at any moment will block the roadway while the accident reports are filled out. Jay walking is not allowed and should be enforced.
I see a lot of people here complaining about J-walking, but in large parts of the county stop lights are easily 0.25-0.5 miles apart at least. Even if just 0.25 miles, that’s an extra half a mile someone would have to walk to get to where they want to go that might be directly across the street from their bus stop, or from a park entrance.
Well it takes me hours and hours every year to do my taxes but I still do them because it’s the law and it’s the right thing to do.
The cost for a driver: pausing for a moment
The benefits for everyone: fewer deaths and crippling injuries for Fairfax County citizens
A good deal for our County.