Crosswalk etiquette
By LINDSAY HICKS
Cherry Hill Sun
6/25/2007

Warm summer temperatures mean more pedestrians on the streets

Warmer temperatures and longer days of summer pull many would-be drivers and homebodies from their cars and houses to walk, jog and bicycle around town, thus increasing the potential for driver-pedestrian standoffs that can add angst and an extra layer of danger to traveling.

Police officers in Cherry Hill, Moorestown, Haddonfield and other neighboring towns continuously work to make the laws known to both drivers and pedestrians through enforcement and education.

Lt. Det. Bill Kushina, Cherry Hill Police Department’s traffic officer, said alcohol usage, driver inattention, possibly cell phone usage and pedestrians’ failure to cross the highway properly have contributed to an increase in “auto-ped” incidents in the township.

Lt. Tim Gasparovic, Haddonfield Police Department traffic officer, said he sees fewer pedestrian-related accidents in the borough compared to Cherry Hill due to the absence of major highways. He does, however, receive many calls about driver violations from residents fed up with inattention to the pedestrian crosswalks on Kings Highway and other busy borough intersections.

The traffic officer attends Department of Transportation meetings in Trenton and speaks with officers in neighboring towns, but nowhere else are pedestrian crosswalks such a hot topic than in Haddonfield.

One reason for accidents and anger between drivers and pedestrians is the lack of knowledge regarding the state laws that guide driver and pedestrian responsibilities at crosswalks, Gasparovic explained.

According to state statutes, a pedestrian earns the right-of-way by stepping slightly off the curb to become visible to drivers approximately 125 feet away from the white lines. The pedestrian should then wait for the driver to stop before crossing.

Drivers must also adhere to electronic crosswalk signs, because pedestrians have the right-of-way above drivers waiting to make a right on red.

Also, no driver should fail to give the right-of-way to a pedestrian at a crosswalk (marked or unmarked) when a pedestrian who started to cross following the correct signal is still crossing after the signal changes, according to Article 6 of the NJ Criminal and Vehicle Handbook.

Moorestown Township takes its enforcement of crosswalk regulations seriously.

The Moorestown Township Police Department, Moorestown Business Association and township officials consider pedestrian safety essential enough to the quality of life downtown that they go beyond any other local township to ensure drivers know to brake or not to brake.

Sgt. Randy Pew, the MTPD traffic officer, posted a sign-up sheet in the department recently for officers interested in joining him on the pedestrian crosswalk sting operation he leads on Main Street twice per month.

The sergeant dresses in regular clothes and steps off the curb as cars approach from 125 feet away in a procedure he said typically leads to 17 traffic violations in three hours. Some feel guilty, others yell in opposition to the undercover sergeant as he dares to practice his right to cross, and one man even returned home after receiving a ticket to make a cardboard sign to warn other drivers of the police presence, according to Pew, who said the sign didn’t decrease the number of violators.

Pew said a crosswalk detail resulted in 14 summons compared to more than 30 when the department started several years ago. He went back out recently for the first time in June, expecting the trend of decreased incidents to continue.

Almost 5,000 pedestrians die in pedestrian-related automobile accidents per year in the United States, according to Title 39 “Motor Vehicles and Traffic Regulation.”

The fines for pedestrians’ failure to stay in a crosswalk is $54 and $100 for drivers’ failure to yield to the pedestrian, Kushina said.

Approximately 28 pedestrian-involved accidents and four related fatalities occurred in Cherry Hill last year, with most happening late at night involving pedestrians wearing dark clothing as they cross a street without using a crosswalk.

Areas most susceptible to pedestrian-related accidents are Routes 70 and 38, Kushina said, noting Route 38 has calmed down since the installation of the fence on top of the barrier running down the center of the highway and the pedestrian crosswalk at Chestnut Street. A pedestrian bridge going up between Loews Movie Theater and the Cherry Hill Mall also should help to reduce the number of incidents, he added.

The township has increased its means to supporting safety by installing the additional crosswalks and bridges, but pedestrians and drivers are also responsible for their safety and the safety of others.

Many accidents could be prevented if pedestrians and drivers followed the state laws involving pedestrian traffic, Moorestown’s traffic officer said, noting he hopes to educate people when he heads out twice per month to issue tickets.

“There’s always going to be that percentage of drivers who are just going to do what they want to do,” the traffic officer said.

The MTPD also receives calls from crossing guards about drivers who fail to stop, even as children stand on the corner and the guard holds up the “Stop” sign.

It’s hard to believe there are people who refuse to stop for a group of children leaving or attending school, he said, noting everyone seems to think they are in a rush.