KSL.com is running a story about “dangerous crosswalks” and how the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) isn’t willing to put in a stoplight as neighbors have been asking for years.
Here are two ideas which may solve this debate once and for all:
- Get UDOT to agree on a number. Which number you ask? Well, every single news release I’ve seen regarding any intersection where someone has gotten hurt and/or killed includes an emotional plea that goes something like this: “How many children must die before UDOT puts in a stop light?!” Well, get UDOT to cement a number for us in ratio of something like [(cars/year)/(pedestrians crossing/year): (injuries + deaths) ]. Once that number is exceeded PLOP goes the stop light. If that doesn’t sit well with you, STOP ASKING THE QUESTION.
- Remember the story about the two guys in a pickup truck that tried to gain entrance into a military base somewhere? You know, the one with the concrete and steel barrier that popped up out of the ground and brought the speeding truck to a dead stop (no pun intended) in something like two inches? Do you remember? Why not throw those barriers up at cross-walks… we’re supposed to stop when they’re occupied, right? Why not “enforce” it through a physical barrier?
