Crosswalks: Gotcha!

We’re still scratching our heads over the story that appeared on Page 1 last week about how crosswalks are actually dangerous to use for crossing the street. It seems that people become unduly confident when crossing between two white lines, and safety suffers. Crosswalks in the middle of the block unprotected by a traffic light are the most hazardous kind, though even where there is a traffic light, having no crosswalk is safer than having one.

As a result, many Southern California communities have quietly removed several thousand crosswalks in recent years, thereby, they hope, keeping pedestrians alert and on their toes. One traffic expert even suggested that the safest way to cross the street is to jaywalk; jaywalkers take special care when breaking the law.

Not everyone, however, thinks that the counter-intuitive case against crosswalks has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt. Some say that it’s just another example of twisting statistics. Much of the public seems to side with this view, judging from neighborhood objections whenever a crosswalk is removed. But every study that has been made of pedestrian safety says that the public’s perception is at odds with the reality of things.

If so, this is a textbook case of the Law of Unintended Consequences, the pervasive constant of nature that plays havoc with so much well-intentioned effort. Crosswalks were painted on streets in the first place to increase pedestrian safety. They wound up having the opposite effect. What’s more, the public has become so fond of them that citizens raise a ruckus whenever local public-works officials try to undue the damage.

Part of the problem of crosswalk safety is the general slackening of diligence by drivers in respecting the pedestrian’s right of way. It was not many years ago that if a pedestrian stepped off a sidewalk in California all cars came to a halt. Things have changed, though it’s not clear whether the culprit is more aggressive pedestrians or more aggressive drivers or increasing animosity between the two.

Let the walker beware: Crossing the street can be dangerous to your health, crosswalk or no. Take nothing for granted. And don’t expect to see a crosswalk the next time you have to get to the other side.