Some crosswalks are painted, some aren’t, and none can magically stop a car: Roadshow

Q: The importance of using crosswalks and other safety suggestions in a recent column were terrific! I especially like that it pointed out to pedestrians not to have a false sense of security in a crosswalk. Several times a week, while walking or driving, I see a pedestrian almost get creamed while in a crosswalk by a driver who thinks turning right on a green light means they don’t have to look to see if a pedestrian has just stepped off the curb.

Lynda Martinez, San Jose 

A: Good pedestrian habits, as well as good driving habits, can be life-saving. Here are a few more tips: Wear light or bright clothing, and carry a flashlight when walking at night. Never assume that a driver will see you when crossing a street.

Q: I just read a story of another pedestrian struck and killed by a car, which seems to be a frequent San Jose occurrence now. Why don’t we have adaptive braking on our cars with a pedestrian focus, too?  Seems like a no-brainer these days.

Mike Angles

A: It isn’t a no-brainer, unfortunately.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) looked at pedestrian automatic emergency braking (AEB) systems and found that while crash rates for pedestrians in the daytime were 27% lower for vehicles with the systems, researchers found no difference in crash risk in dark conditions. Three-quarters of fatal pedestrian crashes occur in the dark.

IIHS will begin officially rating vehicles for nighttime pedestrian AEB performance later this year to encourage development of better systems.

Q: According to state law, every intersection has crosswalks. Sometimes they’re painted. Sometimes they’re not painted, but they are still there. When the police are talking about pedestrian deaths outside crosswalks, are they only referring to painted crosswalks? Sometimes traffic engineers don’t want to paint a crosswalk because they don’t want to give pedestrians a false sense of security.

Thom Mayer

A: Usually police are referring to pedestrians outside a painted crosswalk.

Q: Thank you for highlighting this terrible problem. One aspect not noted is driver distraction caused by cell phone use while driving.

There is also a very high number of pedestrian deaths in Santa Cruz County, and in particular in the Watsonville area. I think factors there are the same: cell phone use, excessive speeding on local streets, not enough crosswalks or safe enough crosswalks, and not enough traffic-calming infrastructure. These problems are seriously exacerbated by “pandemic stress driving.” It makes everyone feel less safe, especially those of us trying to walk on the sidewalks.

Linda Wilshusen, Live Oak

A: Everyone needs to put their phones down, from drivers to pedestrians.