Since the spring, Quincy officials have been striving to change the way residents walk around the city. So far, their work hasn’t shown up in the statistics.
From January through September, Quincy police reported 65 pedestrian accidents, three of which were fatalities.
Comments
Glad to see that officials are finally recognizing that many of these accidents are the result of careless pedestrians -- not drivers. For too long, the city has tried to "improve" pedestrian safety by making things more difficult for drivers -- narrowing lanes, etc. -- which only increased traffic congestion and made the situation more dangerous for walkers. This article highlights efforts to make several Sea St. intersections safer; I hope they work on Quincy Center, too. One of the worst areas for reckless pedestrians occurs right in front of Presidents Place, where pedestrians who apparently are too lazy to walk 10 steps to the nearest crosswalk simply dash right into the street at a point where cars are coming around a corner. Drivers have just stopped at a light and let pedestrians cross, then they get a green light, come around the corner...and find two or three people just strolling into oncoming traffic. If some of these reckless pedestrians got hit with a $50 fine, I think they'd make the effort to walk those few steps to the crosswalk and wait for the light.
Maybe the mayor's office can explain why it would build a new track at one of the state's most dangerous intersections- Coddington and Southern Artery according to the massDOT report that somehow got lost on the PL website.
Another example of fine planning by the city. Yes let's plan on adding more people. pedstrian and vehuicle traffic at an already overcrowded dangerous spot. Brilliant!