Noting That Pedestrian-Vehicular Safety Depends On Appreciation for Sensitivities of All involved
To the Editor:
Late morning on a sunny summer day in August 2019 a truck driver looked right, turned left, and lethally crashed into my friend who was crossing the street on the walkway just in front of Princeton University Library.
According to the Governors Highway Safety Association, in 2023, 7,318 pedestrians were killed in traffic crashes nationwide, 171 of those in New Jersey. But what drives this plot? And who is perpetuating the problem?
There are four mutually antagonist actors.
The first are the car/truck drivers. Their goal is to get where they want as fast as possible: beat a yellow light, quickly change direction if a parking spot materializes, abruptly change lanes avoiding an apparent traffic jam, and make a sharp, un-signaled turn when they remember where they are going. Often these actors sit in their weather-protected, 200 horsepower vehicle and honk, regardless of the perceived obstruction, ranging from another vehicle to a limping walker (Has anyone ever quantitated honk-efficacy, the time saved per minute of honk?) Once there, they often swing the driver door into the street and then mosey to the curb, or, if the whim arises, cross the street diagonally to their destination. Now apart from their car, they will take on a new role.
These second actors — the stroller, walker, jogger — apostate vehicular drivers, also have a mission and need a compliant environment, accessible sidewalks and safe street crossings to satisfy their “getting and spending” for the day. They expect and demand short traffic lights, and very patient drivers: they become indignant when drivers toot their horn, or speed through a blinking-yellow-light as they wait.
The third actors are the bicycle, motorized scooter, or skateboard riders. These participants, the most contrary, play all the roles: they act as pedestrians if sidewalks are available, as pedestrians if the stop sign is “red,” or as vehicle drivers if the light is green at any corner.
The fourth actors are the dreamers, the cell phone gamers, the bouncing ear-phone wearers who dart out into traffic wherever and whenever the passion arises. In a college town like ours the car driver cannot predict or anticipate when these walkers might bolt into the street with no regard whatsoever to vehicular traffic. These participants also demand safety assurance but apparently scoff at any personal responsibility.
But what drives this plot? and who is perpetuating the problem? Who? Why, those of us who participate in the dynamics of urban travel, namely, all of us.
Something there is about the intense frenzy of urban vehicular traffic and pedestrian movement that foments impatience and lack of empathy for the “other guy.” Pedestrian-vehicular safety depends on our individual appreciation for the different sensitivities of the actors involved. Only after we realize this irony — our collective and individual responsibility and lack of empathy — will we begin to address and eliminate the tragic statistic.