Most signaled intersections are unsafe for pedestrians, here's why [View all]

Signals force cars and pedestrians to occupy the crosswalks at the same time, and in fact, don't require cars to slow or stop at all.

Also, to be safe for pedestrians, the pedestrian needs to LOOK BEHIND them to be sure no car is coming, even with a walk signal.



The flaw is that pedestrians have the green/walk in the crosswalk while cars have the same, the only thing protecting the pedestrian is if the car sees them in time to stop, or sees them and attempts to stop at all prior to hitting them.

Intersections everywhere need to be updated to give a red signal to cars while pedestrians have a walk signal for the crosswalk. Signals need to segregate car access from pedestrian access.

This can be done through an all red that lets pedestrians cross in any direction all at once and the rest of the time is for cars to access the intersection. The benefit of this for cars is that instead of two cycles that let pedestrians cross, there is just one, for pedestrians the benefit is that they never have to cross more than once, and can do so diagonally, saving time and distance.

Safety can also be accomplished through red and green arrows for turning, giving a walk signal with a red turn signal followed by a don't walk signal and a green turn signal for right or left turns through a crosswalk.

As our intersections get busier with more cars and more people, there is an inevitable conflict, the only time for cars to legally make a turn is when pedestrians have a walk signal, which puts pressure on cars to cut between people, or be left blocking the intersection until the red signal is against them.

We can do this. These changes can be made at busy intersections and increasingly applied to areas based on the rates of pedestrian injuries and deaths.

CAR ATTEMPTING TO PASS THROUGH CROSSWALK WHILE PEDESTRIANS ARE WITHIN IT


CARS WITH GREEN SIGNAL CAN TURN THROUGH AN INTERSECTION WHILE HAS SIMULTANEOUS WALK SIGNAL