Last night while moving slowly through Newtonville at just past 7, I saw a trio of young women huddled in the middle of Walnut Street trying to cross at the crosswalk. The cars kept moving through the crosswalk illegally. But I don’t believe those cars acted out of ignorance of the law nor disrespect for the pedestrians, because the pedestrians could barely be seen.
I hardly could see them myself, since they were dressed entirely in black and masked by the glare of headlights coming right at them.
For most of the winter months, our little hamlet spends the majority of its days coated in darkness. Yet, our streetlights cast an appalling lack of light on our streets.
Of course, this sounds like a small quibble when you’re talking about being out and about at 11pm on a weeknight, when the streets are relatively empty, but when you’re talking about darkness at 4pm or even 6pm, when Newton’s villages are filled with pedestrians (many of them students) this poses a huge challenge. Add to the fact that as New Englanders we tend to dress in dark clothing, and you have a recipe for disaster.
Not long ago I was moving slowly through Newtonville at about 4:30pm when I was pulled over by a police officer. Apparently there was a person in the crosswalk on the other side of the road who I never saw. Between the long black wool coat and the oncoming headlights, everything was in shadow. When I protested to the police officer saying that the lighting was bad, he pointed to the dim streetlamp above and said “well, it’s right under a streetlight.” Technically, he was correct, but the only light that fell on the crosswalk was a dim, yellowish glow that only illuminated a portion of the street. Not nearly enough for safety. He let me off with a warning.
Add to this the fact that many of the crosswalks on Walnut Street and Centre Street do not have a coordinating traffic light. So these dark-clad pedestrians are left to make themselves known in the dark by easing out onto the street and hoping they’re seen by oncoming drivers, even as those drivers are distracted by oncoming headlights, bends in the road and other things (phones, kids, radio, etc.).
The picture above was taken on a Friday night in Newtonville, a typical evening. C you see the pedestrians? Granted, those people are moving between crosswalks (another problem) but between the dark clothes and the glare of headlights, it’s tough to see. The other village centers, namely Newton Centre, Nonantum, Waban and Newton Corner, face the same problem. Newton Highlands seems to have a bit more illumination to my eye.
It’s not just pedestrians who are at risk. On Superbowl Sunday, as the Seahawks were watching the clock tick away before the confetti fell for their Superbowl victory, I never saw the crater on Washington Street that destroyed two of my tires. The streets, shrouded in shadow, left me no ability to see nuance in the road.
The problem is certainly fixable, though not unique. Other communities face similar issues, but a place like Cambridge seems to have solved it. Aside from the rare power failure, that city manages to illuminate its streets pretty effectively. Why can’t we do the same?
This crosswalk problem you talk about is a very serious one in Newtonville and has been badly overlooked and neglected by the city. My husband witnessed an accident one evening as he came out of CVS. A woman walked out on to the crosswalk and was struck by a slow moving car. She was thrown upward and onto the hood of the car. The driver couldn’t see the pedestrian and was horrified by the accident.
Why don’t the police assist the walkers instead of ambushing the drivers. Needless to say this double crosswalk area needs updated safety measures. Some of the tax increase monies ought to be used for public safety not just for hiring new teachers and building more schools.
Uh, we did hire more police officers Colleen.
I walk in Newtonville often, and must say I don’t experience the problems mentioned here. i drive through as well.
The village is by definition thickly settled , warranting speeds at 20 miles per hour. Also warranting caution was we know there are crosswalks there. Blaming the lights rather than focusing on poor driver habits, poor pedestrian habits, poor clothing choices etc seems to miss the larger culprits.
The crosswalk on Walnut in Newtonville near the CVS and Shaws Market is particularly problematic and really needs a traffic light for pedestrian crossing. For cars driving north, there’s so much that needs attention due to merging traffic, lane changes depending on where you’re heading, etc. that it’s easy not to notice a pedestrian trying to enter the crosswalk even when it’s light out (that’s how I got my only moving violation in a decade – not stopping for a pedestrian I never saw, because I was too focused on not hitting the cars turning and switching lanes).
Not sure about the lighting in Newton Highlands, but Lincoln Street has some of the worst visibility due to crowding. Daylighting, or eliminating parking adjacent to crosswalks, is a must, in day or night.
As for lighting, the city has been experimenting with better lighting, it’s just been a very slow process, I’m told, due to purchasing procedures at city hall, waiting for NStar, etc. Take a look at the new LED lights in Newton Centre on the west side of Centre Street (e.g. near CVS) and compare with the older yellow-orange lights (sodium?) I think the plan is to standardize on the new brighter LED lights, but that will only be a part of the solution.
Also, the Hyde & Center crossing has terrible lighting. NHNAC take notice.
I’m also puzzled by Colleen’s comment about ambushing drivers and assisting walkers. Assist how, exactly? Pedestrians have a right to cross the street. Motorists have the responsibility to yield. What would help, though, is better infrastructure, and that includes lighting and traffic calming. (Tom Vanderbilt’s recent article in the NYT is worth a read).
Dan, you are right that 20 mph feels like a responsible speed for most of our village centers, but a thickly settled district is, unfortunately, 30 mph by statute. It’s nearly impossible under the current laws to set the speed at 20 mph on a straight road unless it’s in a school zone.
I think poor lighting and excess sometimes reckless speed are both culprits, but Chuck has always impressed me as a pretty prudent guy and I suspect he was driving cautiously when this incident with the policeman occurred.
When you decide to take to the road behind the steering wheel in two tons of automobile, it’s your responsibility to watch out for pedestrians in crosswalks. This burden falls 100% on the driver and 0% on the pedestrian, regardless of lighting, weather conditions, or anything else. So if you have trouble seeing pedestrians at night, you shouldn’t be driving after dark.
That being said, the City ALSO has a responsibility to protect pedestrians. Of course part of that responsibility includes the police enforcing traffic rules. But it’s clear that the City has fallen short on properly lighting many crosswalks, not only in village centers, but in outlying areas as well. They’re making some progress, but unfortunately funding dictates pace.
I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment that the speed limit should be 20 mph in village centers. I’d like to see all village centers and side streets posted at 20 mph, regardless of statute. This would make our entire community much safer and more pedestrian friendly.
I do try to be prudent when going through city centers and in all cases I was driving 20 mph or less (as were the others I witnessed). But as I said, this isn’t limited to the pedestrian issue. Putting aside the fact that the roads are a mess as we go through winter, it’s important for drivers to be able to see the roads themselves to avoid hazards. If we can’t see potholes, debris or other possible hazards, then we are at increased risk.
We have a lot of crosswalks in Newton, which is a good thing for pedestrians, but it also makes it difficult for drivers who must be on alert for numerous things in a place like Newton Centre. You have 4 lanes of traffic with cars coming in from both sides AND taking left hand turns. Add to that pedestrians who are trying to cross on dark crosswalks wearing dark clothes. It’s amazing more people haven’t been injured.
I make it a rule not to follow the blogs, but thanks to Ron for alerting me of this conversation. My bandwidth is necessarily restricted by my health so I will make a few comments and back out. I think most of you know how to reach me if you want to continue the conversation in person.
I have studied and written extensively about Newton Highlands crosswalks and Newton Center crosswalks but my comments were not meant to be limited to those locations. The fact is that all of Newton’s crosswalks are dangerous for pedestrians, and there is only one reason: inattentive drivers. Yes, pedestrians need to cross responsibly, but whether they do or not, some driver who isn’t paying attention for whatever the reason is guilty of everything that happens next while they are being distracted.
So that said, how do we protect the pedestrian besides preventing them from crossing in the first place? We need to think more about just what the crosswalk represents – a safety zone, and we need to invest in making that zone more visible.
I said in one of my opinion pieces that bumpouts were not the solution. And that has been proven clearly with at least two vehicle/pedestrian accidents on Center Street since the bumpouts were installed. I cross in those two crosswalks between the stores and the green almost daily,and I can say, again, that the cars in the far lane will never see the pedestrian crossing the street, whether they are on two feet or in a wheelchair. It is a poor design and should be deconstructed, and that fourth lane should be removed and pedestrian lighting installed at one or both of those intersections. That is the only way to solve that city block of danger.
Next, all major crosswalks need to be raised and lit. There is no reason today why this shouldn’t happen – and no acceptable reason why the City of Newton shouldn’t spend this money on the safety of it’s pedestrians. The cars don’t need out protection, for God’s sake. Bill Paille, please protect our pedestrians with visible deterrents. It will be a mess if a car in that 4th lane smashes into my chair – and they are getting closer and closer.
That’s all I have to say, at least here. I urge anyone who wants to do something about this now to contact me – but not here. Thanks!
I’m a pedestrian as much as I am a driver and I’ve never put myself close to a situation where I might be hit by a car when I’m walking. I just don’t get it. I take the position that I’m a person who could get killed by a car and don’t put myself in any danger because of that.
Like Kim, I try to be a careful prudent pedestrian – waiting for cars to stop for me before stepping into traffic. As a driver, I make a practice of actually slowing down at cross walks so I can see if there is a pedestrian waiting to cross, sometimes to the annoyance of drivers behind me. Those are things I can control. What I cannot control, and see far, far too often – is the situation where one car will be stopped for pedestrians, but other cars in the same or opposite directions either refuse to stop or try to go around the stopped car.
I witnessed a horrific accident in just such scenario some years ago. I stopped for a Mom and her two kids on a 2 lane, one way road. Though it was broad daylight and they were in a clearly marked cross walk, and the fact that I was stopped should have given plenty of warning to other drivers that there was a reason to stop, the other driver plowed into the three of them.
Those are sights and sounds I will. never. forget. Worse still: I see that driver’s exact behavior every single time I get behind the wheel of my car and drive around this city. I see people regularly ignore the police crossing guard trying to help children safely cross Commonwealth Ave. I’ve seen drivers not simply fail to stop for pedestrians, but actively speed up to cut them off as they are in the middle of crossing.
When I get behind the wheel of a car, I have an affirmative obligation to slow down for pedestrians, to watch out for the places I know they are likely to be and to yield to them. As for the photo, once you assume there are pedestrians in the picture, they are really quite easy to find.
To Robert’s point, and I’m sorry he won’t remain in this discussion as his thoughts are so valuable, that section of Centre Street is three-lanes, and I agree that third lane is a big part of the problem. I would not discount the curb extensions, however. As both a driver and pedestrian, I’ve found that the new configuration has made a huge difference when it comes to visibility at that location. But with the extra lane, Lisap’s horror of an ignorant driver flying by a stopped car remains, and indeed I know of such an accident has happened in that exact spot a few years ago. I would like to know more about the two accidents Robert mentioned since the bumpout installation, if anyone can share.
Back to Chuck’s original post, looking at that picture, you’ll see one of those horrible orange sodium lights, and although it seems to be aimed at a crosswalk, it would appear the pedestrian is jay-walking, so short of lighting up that entire stretch of Walnut Street, lighting improvements may not be the answer here. (The driver still has the obligation stop, of course, regardless) Perhaps the right infrastructure, providing safety and comfort to pedestrians, would encourage the pedestrians to cross at the right location? Newtonville crosswalk placement is quite a puzzle. People cross almost everywhere.
As both a driver and a pedestrian, I object to the statement that the only reason for problems is inattentive drivers. No matter how attentive one is, there are times when the visibility is so bad that even people with excellent night vision will have trouble seeing people walking (black hair, black clothes, not facing traffic in unlighted areas). There will be times where pedestrians put themselves in the way of harm so quickly that it’s almost impossible to avoid them, or where the avoidance leads to accidents because you have to swerve into another lane (pedestrians jaywalking from between cars, texting and not looking at traffic, for example).
It is very important that we push drivers to be safe and attentive. It is also very important that we improve infrastructure (lights, crosswalks, etc.) to make it easier to drive safely, and improve intersections so there aren’t so many competing demands on attention that it’s impossible to process everything at once. And, yes, it’s also important for pedestrians to follow basic common-sense safety rules.
We can’t solve multi-factor problems by demonizing one category of people or saying that they have to be perfect (because no one is). We need to make structural and educational changes.
It most definitely is the driver’s responsibility to stop for pedestrians. No one disputes that.
However, that doesn’t mean the pedestrians are always seen. I also slow down at the crosswalks and look, but I’m also often surprised by pedestrians who come into the street. In the image above, it’s easy to spot the pedestrians when you know they are there, but they are in the middle of the block coming out from behind some lights. How do you know to look for them at that point? Even if you’re moving slowly, you still run the risk of hitting them.
The crosswalk situation in the villages does need to be reassessed. At one point in Newtonville two crosswalks sit about a car-length apart, while at another point they’re more than a block away from one another. And as a pedestrian, if you’re not going to be seen in the crosswalk, what’s the difference in safety between using one and not?
But again, this is not just a village center issue, it’s a much bigger issues about the lights on our streets.
Also, keep in mind that the above photo was taken AFTER I had stopped and saw the pedestrians. A second before this they were hidden behind the glare.
My understanding is the standard for drivers is “to have one’s vehicle under control at all times.” It does say except when lighting is bad, or when people are wring dark clothing, or when a pedestrian might be foolhardy.
Now I know it’s a tough standard, but we drivers really need that mindset, to increase the odds that bad things won’t happen. And I know that there are probably more possible distractions when driving than ever. But our occasional inattention can have deadly consequences.
And I’m not arguing that there amy be things than can be done to mitigate some of the problems.But we can’t rely on that.
Following up to Robert’s earlier comment about accidents at Centre and Pelham since the installation of curb extensions, I asked around and was reminded that there was an accident related to a kid rollerblading from Pelham Street last fall, and that injuries were not serious. Let’s make sure we have the facts before we make any assumptions about that design. I hope the record will show that it is an improvement worth duplicating at crossings in many of our village centers.
Pedestrians have as much responsibility as drivers for street safety. Granted a pedestrian is at a distinct disadvantage in that he doesn’t carry 2 tons of body armor, but assuming most drivers are not man slaughterers, pedestrians must take responsibility for crosswalk safety as well.
A few years ago I was driving east down Beacon Street at about 5:oo PM on a nice sunny summer weekday. A text messaging student / pedestrian stepped suddenly without looking into the crosswalk. The brand new Saab station wagon directly in front of me, (as well as myself ) came to a screeching halt barely missing by inches a direct hit. Sadly a Boston College police vehicle directly behind me didn’t, smashing into me and sending me into the rear end of the Saab. BC ‘s insurance paid out a $4,000 repair bill for me, but I hesitate to even guess what the more extensive Saab repairs came to.
This has taught me that, as a pedestrian crossing any street, crosswalk or not, that I am invisible ! I never assume that I have the right of way, even though legally I may. Reality dictates otherwise.