There is no dispute that walking is good for the environment and as well as for your health. A news item published earlier this month, titled Improved Walking Environments Can Benefit Mental Health, authored by Robbie Weber of the State Smart Transportation Initiative, points to research-based proof that walking as exercise helps school children concentrate better and seniors maintain cognitive function.
The article observes that walking is relatively easy, and requires no equipment except a pair of good walking shoes. However, it notes:
State officials seem to be primarily blaming the pedestrians for this. But another likely element in the increased ratio of pedestrian deaths, in the nation as a whole as well as here in Delaware, lies in what Weber terms hostile or dangerous walking environments that may, in part, arise from car-centered improvements to our roadways. For instance, as we make it easier for cars to travel, higher travel speeds are encouraged and danger to pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit users may increase.
I believe that there are yet more elements at play in making our roadway areas hostile to pedestrians. In lower-speed areas within Wilmington city limits, these elements may not result in fatalities, but at minimum they make it scarier and more difficult for pedestrians to get around, and discourage people from getting out of their cars to use transit, bicycles or their feet to commute or run errands.
One element is planned changes to our roadways that benefit motorists at the expense of pedestrians. You wouldn't think these things would be happening given state and local government's stated intention of encouraging public transit, bicycle, and pedestrian travel. But right here in Wilmington, we've seen removal of crosswalks that are located at intersections without stop signs or traffic lights. This certainly makes things faster and easier for drivers, but rather than encouraging them to keep in mind the potential presence of pedestrians crossing the roadway, it encourages them to think that the motorist's right-of-way is supreme, and that they don't need to worry about people on foot or on bicycles.
I frequently walk along Bancroft Parkway in Wilmington. It's a pretty tree-lined street with a greenbelt, lots of shade in the summer, and without the heavy traffic and car exhaust of nearby, parallel Union Street. It's ideal for walking or biking. There once were painted crosswalks at the intersection of Bancroft Parkway and 4th Street, and I've been told at Lancaster Avenue also. But when roadways at these intersections were resurfaced (the one at 4th Street just a couple of years ago), the crosswalks were not repainted. Pedestrians will surely continue to cross at those locations, but now without even a reminder to motorists that pedestrian crossings are frequent.
The second additional element creating a dangerous and hostile walking environment is the motorists themselves. When I cross at green lights here in Wilmington, I am constantly being cut off by drivers, who will often drive their cars aggressively to within inches of my path, as if they own the road and I'm the interloper. And there is certainly little understanding of pedestrian vs. car rights-of-way at intersections in which the green pedestrian signal is lit. It often happens that a driver will nearly drive over my feet as they make their turn, despite the fact that I have already started to cross and have the right-of-way. Worse, I've had police watch this and do nothing. Nobody in Wilmington ever seems to get ticketed for violating the right-of-way of a pedestrian. Hence this rude, intimidating, and dangerous motorist behavior continues.
We've heard that Delaware officials are concerned about our state's high rate of pedestrian fatalities. Based on my own observations and the information in Weber's article, it is clear that Delaware, if it wishes to improve its statistics, must create changes that make walkways less hostile to pedestrians, even if it may mean a bit more inconvenience to drivers. The current "cars rule" mentality that seems to pervade the thinking of both transportation planners and motorists here in our state is surely a large, and it appears largely unrecognized, element of the relatively hostile and dangerous walking environment that is reflected in our pedestrian fatality statistics.
The article observes that walking is relatively easy, and requires no equipment except a pair of good walking shoes. However, it notes:
"...there is one other element that might be harder to come by: a safe place to walk."According to Weber, the total number of US traffic fatalities has fallen by 24% in the last 10 years, but the percentage of those deaths involving pedestrians has risen during that time. Delaware itself has the second-highest rate of pedestrian fatalities in the nation, according to an April 11, 2013 News Journal article.
State officials seem to be primarily blaming the pedestrians for this. But another likely element in the increased ratio of pedestrian deaths, in the nation as a whole as well as here in Delaware, lies in what Weber terms hostile or dangerous walking environments that may, in part, arise from car-centered improvements to our roadways. For instance, as we make it easier for cars to travel, higher travel speeds are encouraged and danger to pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit users may increase.
I believe that there are yet more elements at play in making our roadway areas hostile to pedestrians. In lower-speed areas within Wilmington city limits, these elements may not result in fatalities, but at minimum they make it scarier and more difficult for pedestrians to get around, and discourage people from getting out of their cars to use transit, bicycles or their feet to commute or run errands.
One element is planned changes to our roadways that benefit motorists at the expense of pedestrians. You wouldn't think these things would be happening given state and local government's stated intention of encouraging public transit, bicycle, and pedestrian travel. But right here in Wilmington, we've seen removal of crosswalks that are located at intersections without stop signs or traffic lights. This certainly makes things faster and easier for drivers, but rather than encouraging them to keep in mind the potential presence of pedestrians crossing the roadway, it encourages them to think that the motorist's right-of-way is supreme, and that they don't need to worry about people on foot or on bicycles.
I frequently walk along Bancroft Parkway in Wilmington. It's a pretty tree-lined street with a greenbelt, lots of shade in the summer, and without the heavy traffic and car exhaust of nearby, parallel Union Street. It's ideal for walking or biking. There once were painted crosswalks at the intersection of Bancroft Parkway and 4th Street, and I've been told at Lancaster Avenue also. But when roadways at these intersections were resurfaced (the one at 4th Street just a couple of years ago), the crosswalks were not repainted. Pedestrians will surely continue to cross at those locations, but now without even a reminder to motorists that pedestrian crossings are frequent.
The second additional element creating a dangerous and hostile walking environment is the motorists themselves. When I cross at green lights here in Wilmington, I am constantly being cut off by drivers, who will often drive their cars aggressively to within inches of my path, as if they own the road and I'm the interloper. And there is certainly little understanding of pedestrian vs. car rights-of-way at intersections in which the green pedestrian signal is lit. It often happens that a driver will nearly drive over my feet as they make their turn, despite the fact that I have already started to cross and have the right-of-way. Worse, I've had police watch this and do nothing. Nobody in Wilmington ever seems to get ticketed for violating the right-of-way of a pedestrian. Hence this rude, intimidating, and dangerous motorist behavior continues.
We've heard that Delaware officials are concerned about our state's high rate of pedestrian fatalities. Based on my own observations and the information in Weber's article, it is clear that Delaware, if it wishes to improve its statistics, must create changes that make walkways less hostile to pedestrians, even if it may mean a bit more inconvenience to drivers. The current "cars rule" mentality that seems to pervade the thinking of both transportation planners and motorists here in our state is surely a large, and it appears largely unrecognized, element of the relatively hostile and dangerous walking environment that is reflected in our pedestrian fatality statistics.
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