Wednesday, May 15, 2013
After a slew of near-fatal accidents in Bethesda this year, residents are asking officials to take steps to improve pedestrian and cyclist safety.
There have been 14 pedestrian accidents in Montgomery County since the beginning of 2013, four of which took place in Bethesda, leaving residents concerned about safety. Following a Feb. 27 accident in which a car struck a stroller carrying a 3-month-old baby at the intersection of Arlington Road and Edgemoor Lane, a group of Bethesda Elementary parents launched an online petition advocating for increased pedestrian safety measures on the busy street. The petition, which has 228 supporters as of May 6, asks the Montgomery County Council for speed cameras and radar signs on Arlington Road, better and more visible markings of crosswalks and a change to “no turn on red” in areas with high pedestrian traffic near schools. “We, the parents of …
Using red light and speed cameras, targeted stings and other methods, police departments and municipalities hope to prevent pedestrian-related accidents, after a number of fatalities.
Pedestrian-related accidents have seen an unfortunate increase recently, particularly in Montgomery County. There have been 14 pedestrian accidents just this year, five of which resulted in fatalities. There was even one incident in Bethesda where a car struck an infant in a stroller being pushed across a crosswalk. “We, the parents of students attending Bethesda Elementary School, are horrified by the number of traffic accidents and near-accidents in and around downtown Bethesda,” said an online petition launched by Bethesda elementary school parents. “The safety of this walkable haven is at risk.” While there haven’t been as many pedestrian-related deaths in Prince George’s County this year, College Park officials recognize that …
How many traffic cameras are there in towns with fatal accidents in the last three years?
Since 2011, 24 pedestrians have died in an accident with a car. Where are these accidents happening, and how many traffic cameras are in place in those towns?
Friendship Heights and Chevy Chase Village pending walking signal battles are looking promising.
The Chevy Chase Village Traffic Committee and The Friendship Heights Transportation Management District Advisory Committee are both working with transportation officials to install safer walk signals for their communities. Here is a timeline of all fatal accidents in Montgomery and Prince George's counties. Committee member Jan Acton’s diligent research afforded her the opportunity to get the Chevy Chase Village Board of Managers onboard to send their request to the Maryland Highway Administration, Patch reported earlier last year. Last July, the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) issued a letter to Chevy Chase Village Board of Managers Chair Patricia Baptiste stating that due to the low volume of human traffic a revamped …
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Will Montgomery County police stings improve pedestrian safety?
Montgomery County residents took to the Montgomery County Police Department Facebook page to express their opinions about pedestrian enforcement stings that began Wednesday. From 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, county police issued 72 citations for pedestrian safety infractions at the intersection of Veirs Mill Road and Turkey Branch Parkway in Aspen Hill, police said in a news release posted on the Facebook page. Lesli King Brown posted her wish for constant enforcement: "If only there was enough police enforcement available to to it all over the county all the time." The enforcement should go both ways, posted Wayne Lim of Silver Spring: "OK, all that sounded good. However how many pedestrians were ticketed for jay walking or running …
In the first two of a series of "pedestrian stings," 128 drivers were ticketed for not yielding to pedestrians in Aspen Hill and Bethesda.
Pedestrians in bright yellow t-shirts had about a 30 percent chance of crossing Democracy Boulevard in Bethesda Thursday without a close call from a passing car, according to Jimmy Chen, an intern with Montgomery County police. Chen was one of several plainclothes members of the department attempting to cross the street in a pedestrian "sting." Members of the department's traffic division are working to respond to an increase in complaints that drivers in some high-traffic areas aren't properly yielding to pedestrians, said Capt. Thomas Didone, head of the division. Over the next few days, uniformed officers will stand by and watch for drivers that blow past marked intersections with waiting or crossing pedestrians in key areas, like …
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Montgomery County police say drivers aren't yielding to pedestrians at crosswalks.
A cluster of Montgomery County police officers will give their traditional blue uniforms a rest this month, donning plainclothes to conduct a series of "pedestrian stings" at high-traffic intersections and ticket drivers who refuse to yield, said Capt. Thomas Didone, director of the traffic division. This year, police have received complaints that drivers aren't properly yielding to pedestrians at certain intersections. Moreover, investigators are finding that more pedestrian incidents have been the driver's fault. Officers would typically attempt to enforce that kind of law by driving around a high-traffic area and looking for drivers not following the rules, said Didone. That's not very efficient, he said. Now, police will pose as …
Sunday, May 5, 2013
A member of the community writes on Patch about a dangerous Bethesda intersection that could be improved with a traffic signal.
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Revenue is down for automated traffic enforcement, even as police consider dozens of new locations, The Examiner newspaper reported.
Speed and red light cameras captured more than 300,000 traffic law violations in Montgomery Cameras this fiscal year, so far, The Examiner newspaper reported. That figure is still way lower than previous years, including the all-time high of 562,399 citations in fiscal year 2009, according to data from Montgomery County police. From July 2012 to February 2013, about 291,000 speed camera tickets and 25,000 red light camera tickets were issued in the county, the newspaper reported from data presented to the County Council's Public Safety Committee. From last year, speed camera tickets decreased by nearly 40,000 while red light camera tickets increased by about 3,000. Fiscal year 2013 ends June 30. "Our goal is to change behavior," …
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Residents of Chevy Chase, DC, recently got something that some residents of Chevy Chase Village, MD—just a few blocks away—would like: a high-tech, pedestrian-activated HAWK traffic signal.
Ever wished that you could just walk up to an intersection, press a button and—presto—stop traffic so you could cross the street? Some residents of Chevy Chase Village have been asking the Maryland Department of Transportation for months to install a traffic signal and marked crosswalk across Connecticut Avenue near Chevy Chase Village Hall. That request has been denied, for now. Meanwhile, just a few blocks away, on the other side of the Maryland-Washington, DC, border—in Chevy Chase, DC—a special new pedestrian-activated signal was installed on April 19 to allow pedestrians to stop traffic to cross Connecticut Avenue at Northampton Street at the touch of a button. The new signal—called a HAWK, or High-Intensity Activated crossWalK, …
Costco Gas Man
3:06 pm on Thursday, May 16, 2013
According to the Md. DMV pedestrians are at fault 70% of the time. more ›