The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
photos courtesy of the Village of Ridgewood
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
If you’ve crossed the street by Graydon Pool, the Ridgewood Public Library or a few other busy locations around the Village, you’ve probably noticed the pedestrian-activated crosswalk flashers.
Continue reading The Village of Ridgewood Enhances Pedestrian Crosswalk Safety
by Francis Geraghty
Ridgewood NJ, in a few months as the weather improves workers from medical buildings including 1200 east Ridgewood Avenue & other nearby buildings on south side of the avenue will once again risk their lives crossing this busy avenue to get to the wild duck pond to walk or eat lunch, It reminds me of young sea turtles in Cosumel Mexico dashing from their nests to the nearby ocean while trying to avoid being picked off by hungry birds overhead. Two painted or lit up cross walks across this very busy Ridgewood avenue at the entrance and exit to the wild duck pond would be a great way to help pedestrians crossing back and forth.
Continue reading Two Crosswalks Needed on Very Busy Ridgewood Avenue Across from the Duck Pond
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, according to NJDOT , “Crosswalks are the safest place for people on foot to cross a road. However, while the law assigns pedestrians the right of way if they enter a crosswalk properly, it does not relieve pedestrians of the responsibility to keep alert and cross with caution. Here are answers to come commonly asked questions about crosswalks.” But maybe not so in the Village of Ridgewood.
(in Ridgewood) file photo by Boyd Loving
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Hawthorne NJ, Hawthorne Police Traffic Bureau, sent us a School Zone Safety message that applies to all towns, cities, villages ,townships and boroughs , “When approaching or using a school crosswalk, the rules are different. At a traditional crosswalk, drivers can proceed once pedestrians clear the crosswalk on the opposite side of the opposing lane of travel. However, drivers need to wait at an active school crosswalk unit. It is clear of children and the crossing guard, keeping in mind the children and crossing guard do not always end on the same side. Often, the crossing guard has to return back into the intersection to continue helping other students at the next crossing interval. It is crucial that drivers are aware of this process and make sure the crossing guard is clearly out of the intersection before proceeding.
Continue reading School Zone Safety : “Safety isn’t expensive, it’s priceless.”
Go visit Glen Rock and compare driver behavior with what you see in Ridgewood. Ridgewood has a car culture problem and a road design problem. Almost all drivers in Glen Rock respect the pedestrian crossings. Few Ridgewood drivers stop for pedestrians in the crosswalks or those waiting to cross. Oddly enough, more drivers stop for me when I am walking my dog than when I am walking alone or with my wife. The same is true for kids. Too many drivers ignore children on their way to and from school, which is very dangerous, especially when students try to cross Linwood or Glen (other streets could just as well be added, but I am less familiar with the problems there).
The pedestrian crossings in Glen Rock are clearly marked (unlike Ridgewood’s). The main street in Glen Rock is also wider than Ridgewood Ave, with narrower sidewalks. The wider streets give drivers better visibility. That said, the attitudes of drivers in Ridgewood is very different than that in Glen Rock. We have a cultural difference between superficially similar towns.
This subject comes up about every two months and the resulting comments are always the same. We get a few sensible comments but they are drowned out with these made-up and exaggerated accounts of dodging pedestrians who run out, some putting on make-up, some are texting. I’m not suggesting that some pedestrians aren’t reckless but these stories are simply untrue. They are the same stereotypical stories of teenagers driving while applying make-up or aggressive, latte-sipping moms from the Heights in their big SUVs.
I urge some of you road warriors to actually spend some time trying to use crosswalks during busy times. It’s not a case of waiting for that one car to pass by before crossing. Traffic is heavy, and it comes in multiple directions. One lane might stop for the waiting pedestrian, but the other lane does not. Stopped driver gets frustrated and thinks the pedestrian is being stupid for not crossing, so he shakes his head and drivers on.
It’s not that simple. It’s easy to say just wait, but that often isn’t practical. The only real safe way to solve this would be to have traffic lights at every crossing. The downsides of this, however, would be massive costs and massive traffic congestion while the generally free-flowing traffic is caught up in multiple traffic lights.
