Earlier this week, Andy wrote:
A girl on a bicycle was hit by a motorist at the corner of 43rd and 1st, right outside my kitchen window. Fire, police, ambulance came, took her away on a stretcher, though it appeared to me that she was basically okay. She was wearing her helmet, thankfully! Couple of scratches but seems okay. Car dented and windshield shattered, bike bent up.
People generally drive too fast along 1st. I wasn’t there to see it, only heard the crunch, but that’s my bet. This is one of increasingly rare intersections in Wallingford without a traffic circle, which seems wholly inappropriate given how narrow the stree is.
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That intersection is a bit scary and people do drive fast up and down 1st. Slow down there are a lot of kids in the neighborhood.
Please don’t go calling for more of those damned circles. They are tremendously expensive and, if you drive anything bigger than a smart car, they are a pain in the butt.
Drivers can always use arterial streets to avoid traffic circles. As a pedestrian and a driver I think they’re well worth the $ and agrivation on the non-arterials and I’m convinced they save lives. It’s unbelievable to me how many drivers have no idea who has the right-of-way at an uncontrolled intersection, not to mention the need to SLOW DOWN! Makes you wonder where in the world they got a driver’s license. If drivers need traffic circles to remind them to exercise caution on a neighborhood street, then so be it.
First off, I hope the cyclist is okay. Second, how about some stop or yield signs?
I live in the southwest quadrant of 45th and Stone Way that lacks a glorieta (by the way, the intersection is wide enough). One of the street has a slope and several drivers speed down it. I’ve seen one too many close calls.
Then again, there was an accident in my driveway today. They just happen sometimes.
I vote yes for anything that reminds walkers, cyclists, stroller pushers, dog walkers, vehicle drivers that they are walking, riding, pushing, walking, driving, respectively. Traffic circles, chicanes, signs, good sight lines at corners (1st and 43rd is not good in that arena), but more importantly, conversations about how to improve safety for all.
Today is trash day in 98105 anyway; those lime green vehicles necessarily stop and go, slowly. BUT, on their other days, they grease through Wallingford on their way to the transfer station . No amount of calling SPU has helped.
FYI… the cyclist, a 7th grader, is okay. A lesson to slow down!
I’m glad to hear the 7th grader is okay. Bet she’ll never forget her helmet the rest of her life! Sorry to say no less than ten minutes after everyone left I saw some fool on a bike streak through that intersection without a helmet. If he only knew.
I have absolutely no data to back this up, but my hunch is that as more intersections are installed with traffic circles, the more people lean towards using streets that don’t have them, thus making them more necessary for those streets.
Certainly the trash collector guys have figured this out. They go through this intersection many many times on a Friday.