For safety's sake, pedestrians are asked to 'walk this way'

See note below for facts on how this relates to the Boston Crash Controversey
 

By Anthony Flint and Thomas C. Palmer Jr.
Boston Globe, November 10, 1999

As Mayor Thomas M. Menino unveiled a new pedestrian safety campaign yesterday at the corner of Park and Tremont streets, the reasons why three people are injured every day in pedestrian accidents in Boston were visible all around.

A group of two-dozen schoolchildren crossed in front of a bus on Park Street while a ''Don't Walk'' signal blinked insistently. Farther down Tremont Street, a jaywalker darted in front of oncoming traffic, only to reach a set of concrete construction barriers with signs saying ''sidewalk closed.''

Faced with such transgressions, the mayor is intent on getting people's attention in some unusual ways.

''Feeling run down?'' says one sign to be placed at the city's 12 most dangerous intersections. ''You will if you cross this intersection at the wrong time, buster.''

Another shows a license plate and reads, ''Cross this street at the wrong time and get a free tattoo.''

Another sign that workers placed by the Park Street MBTA station on Tremont Street reads, ''Think of the raw power! Stop a dozen massive, speeding vehicles with a single touch,'' urging pedestrians to use the ''Walk'' signal button nearby. And another: ''You don't come with an airbag. Press the button.''

Some signs are site-specific: a baseball theme is planned for the area around Fenway Park, and a sign near the Berklee School of Music employs the symbol used on sheet music that tells musicians to wait for the conductor before playing. ''Wait for the signal,'' the sign says.

The creative signs are part of the mayor's ''Walk This Way'' education campaign, with permission from the rock group Aerosmith to use its hit song title. The goal is to urge pedestrians to push buttons for the ''Walk'' signal and to use crosswalks.

Officials from the public health department and the city's transportation department said they originally planned a campaign targeted at drivers downtown, warning them that pedestrians have the right of way in crosswalks where there is no traffic signal, for example.

But the officials studied 12 intersections and learned that pedestrians, by and large, are the problem - not waiting for the ''Walk'' signal, or making a mad dash across busy streets without using the crosswalk only a few steps away.

The campaign was launched jointly by the city's transportation, public health, and emergency medical services departments, along with the Governor's Highway Safety Bureau. The effort was also helped by pro bono work from BBK Communications of Newton.

Menino said he hoped the campaign would use humor ''to make everyone think more carefully about their own habits and behavior.''

Barbara Ferrer, deputy director of the public health commission, which was brought in because pedestrian accidents were seen as a public health issue, said the unconventional approach is necessary because ''behavior change is not easy.''

The 12 locations that have been targeted for signs are: Copley Square; Massachusetts Avenue and Newbury Street; Massachusetts Avenue and Boylston Street; Massachusetts Avenue and Clearway; Massachusetts and Columbus avenues; the Boston University bridge at Commonwealth Avenue; Kenmore Square; Blue Hill Avenue and Columbia Road; Blue Hill Avenue and Morton Street; Tremont and Boylston streets; and Park and Tremont streets, where the mayor made the announcement yesterday morning.

City officials say that with about 2 million people living or working in Boston, combined with 11 million visitors to the city each year, there have been 4,600 pedestrian accidents in the last four years, 46 of them fatalities.

Ever since banker William Spring impatiently sprinted across the street against a red light and slammed into a traffic-law-abiding bike messenger, the Boston Globe has repeatedly refused to print anything that would suggest messengers weren’t as dangerous as portrayed. They filled their stories with misleading and unsubstantiated anecdotes from pedestrians about near misses etc and the media pushed for Boston to pass new anti-messenger laws without studying any facts.

Now enough time has passed for Boston officials and media to look at other road users probably hoping that no one will remember the facts that were previously denied.

This campaign called “Walk this Way” is aimed at educating pedestrians. “The campaign was launched jointly by the city's transportation, public health, and emergency medical services departments, along with the Governor's Highway Safety Bureau.” What it does is exonerate bike messenger Jonathon Gladstone by demonstrating that William Spring's behavior was reckless and dangerous. 

Whether people will acknowledge it or not, the real catalyst for this campaign is the accident involving Spring and Gladstone. They are careful to omit all references to Spring, although his behaviour, is exactly what they’re targeting. The Globe cites as an example of careless pedestrian behaviour a group of pedestrians that “crossed in front of a bus on Park Street while a ''Don't Walk'' signal blinked insistently.” The same kind of “Don’t Walk” signal that blinked insistently long before Spring made his mad dash.

Despite the public stance on couriers and the prejudicial politics, when people went home they were forced to question the facts in their own minds. As a result they turned to pedestrian behaviour. The question is will they ever have a campaign like this for cars or the number one killer of bike messengers – trucks and buses with their supposedly professional licensed drivers.

Originally “officials from the public health department and the city's transportation department planned a campaign targeted at drivers downtown, warning them that pedestrians have the right of way in crosswalks where there is NO traffic signal.” 

“But the officials studied 12 intersections and learned that pedestrians, by and large, are the problem - not waiting for the ''Walk'' signal, or making a mad dash across busy streets without using the crosswalk only a few steps away.” [They must have followed William Spring around.]

And so we learn that studies aren’t necessary when a City contemplates laws that violate the rights of messengers. They just rush them through even when those laws are outside their jurisdiction. But when it comes time for a public education of drivers, well a study must be done! I suppose they remembered how many of their friends drive.

And isn’t is curious that one of the original goals was regarding crosswalks where there were No traffic signals yet the study involved intersections WITH traffic signals.

The story also mentions “three people are injured every day in pedestrian accidents in Boston” and “there have been 4,600 pedestrian accidents in the last four years, 46 of them fatalities.” What they mean to say is motor vehicle – pedestrian accidents. (These are not pedestrians crashing in to each other. Virtually all of these accidents involve motor vehicles with no public outcry.)

No word yet on whether the City will be asking for licenses, helmets, insurance and background checks for all pedestrians.

Notice that the City states that pedestrians have the right of way in “crosswalks where there is No traffic signal,” suggesting that peds don’t always have the right of way at intersections where there ARE traffic signals. In other words they can’t run across the street against a red light (unless they have political connections).

That’s a complete contradiction of what the Police Commissioner said two years ago and it’s why some radicals are calling for Police to actually learn the laws they are entrusted to enforce.

Back to the Boston Crash Controversey