Walking for Safety, We’re all in This Together

This is United Nations Global Road Safety Week (May 6-12).  Safety advocates around the world are hosting Long Short Walks to call attention to the fact that a quarter of the 1.3 million people killed on the world’s roads are pedestrians.  Many are children. 

What’s a Long Short Walk?  According to organizers, it's a fun activity with a serious aim.  Take a walk to school or work, around your neighborhood or to a local store.  If you have a dangerous road or junction nearby, take a picture and e-mail it to the Campaign for Global Road Safety.  They’ll download all of the short walks they receive online and combine them into one Long Walk featuring snapshots of streets and journeys around the world. 

The Campaign’s goal is to call attention to the fact that in many places in the U.S. and around the world there aren’t safe places to walk and/or cross.  There are also issues with speed and a lack of awareness and respect for those on foot.  The Long Short Walk campaigns for the rights of pedestrians and children on the road to be recognized and urges greater investment in safe footpaths, cycle-ways and crossing points, on streets with lower speed limits, especially around schools. 

Safety, however, doesn’t just happen. It takes action by officials at all levels of government to ensure that pedestrian safety is a priority.  You may be surprised to learn that New Jersey is taking a leadership role on this issue and has received national recognition for its efforts.  In 2009, the NJ Department of Transportation adopted a complete streets policy requiring that pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders, and other roadway users be factored into all roadway projects.  Since then more than two dozen communities and one county have followed DOT’s lead and efforts are ongoing to encourage all 566 of the state’s municipalities and 21 counties to get on board. 

In addition to ensuring that our roadway system provides for safe walking, New Jersey’s more than 50 year old pedestrian safety statute was amended in 2010 to require motorists to stop and stay stopped for pedestrians in marked and unmarked crosswalks.  Since then the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety has been partnering with many police and safety agencies to educate motorists and pedestrians about their duties and responsibilities under the law. 

While I often hear people say “no one knows the pedestrian safety law,” a statewide survey conducted for the Division of Highway Traffic Safety confirms that the public is overwhelmingly aware of the mandate. The problem seems to lie not with our lack of knowledge, but our general disregard for anyone else on the road irrespective of our travel mode. 

Last year, 27 percent of the people killed on New Jersey’s roadways were pedestrians, that’s more than double the national average.  And so far this year, pedestrians account for an unprecedented 36 percent (that’s not a typo) of the state’s traffic-fatalities.  While there’s a general assumption that motorists are to blame when a pedestrian is injured or killed in a motor vehicle crash, a review of New Jersey crash data reveals that an unsafe action such as crossing where prohibited, running across traffic, wearing dark clothing at night, inattention, or walking while distracted or impaired is often a contributing factor.  That’s why t’s time for all of us to recognize that when it comes to roadway safety we’re all in this together. 

That starts by remembering we’re all pedestrians.  Walking, unlike driving, is something everyone of us does every day.  And when we drive, the minute we park our vehicle, open the door and put our feet on the ground, we’ve transitioned from motorist to pedestrian.  When you’re behind the wheel, don’t forget what it feels like to be a pedestrian and give that individual attempting to cross at the corner the right away.  When you’re walking, remember that a pedestrian just like a motorist is required to obey all signs and signals and take due care in traffic.  By putting ourselves in each other’s shoes or driver’s seat, our individual journeys, whether long or short, will be safer.