Opinion: Yes, L.A. needs more crosswalks. But drivers also need to learn the rules of the road.

To the editor: My 30 years in Eagle Rock, which I think has minimum marked crosswalks, has shown me clearly that most local drivers are unaware (or don’t care) that they must “stop for any pedestrian crossing at corners or other crosswalks, even if the crosswalk is in the middle of the block, at corners with or without traffic signal lights, whether or not the crosswalks are marked by painted lines.”

( “Let’s make L.A. streets safe to walk,” Opinion, Sept. 12)

Yes, let’s put in more crosswalks, especially the lighted ones, but let’s also start an awareness campaign for the drivers who never read, or have forgotten, this important point made in the California driver’s handbook.

Anne Beaty, Eagle Rock

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To the editor: “The symbol of our unsafe streets is a lack of painted crosswalks and other pedestrian safety infrastructure,” the opinion piece said. Hardly. Painted crosswalks only give a false sense of security to pedestrians, I think. Drivers pay no attention to them as they whiz by.

What we need are sidewalks. In my part of Sylmar, many young children have to walk in the street to get to school. How safe is that?

Sam Platts, Sylmar

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To the editor: Pedestrian deaths and injuries are a cause for concern in Los Angeles, but as a traffic court judge in Santa Monica I do not believe the idea suggested by the authors— that more painted crosswalks would lead to fewer accidents —is supported by studies of pedestrian safety over the years.

In fact, studies have shown that pedestrians are likelier to be struck in marked or painted crosswalks than in unmarked crosswalks, because pedestrians are not as careful as when they cross at an unmarked crosswalk and fail to look for oncoming traffic.

Unless a painted crosswalk also includes traffic signals, stop signs or flashing lights, it can actually be more dangerous than no crosswalk at all.

James Hahn, Santa Monica

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