Flashing crosswalks continue their reign of terror: Now with 8 miles-per-hour signs

Monday, January 9, 2012 – Due to the increase of pedestrian and bicycle accidents in Boulder, Colorado, the city’s crosswalks will soon feature new 8 mph signs.

The city of Boulder will now have 8 MPH Signs posted at some crosswalks for bicyclists to follow.

Hypothetically speaking, Mary lives in Boulder, Colorado. As a 45-year-old schoolteacher, she bikes to her local high school every morning by crossing the intersection of Broadway and Baseline Road. She, like other Boulder citizens, crosses safely via a flashing crosswalk. Flashing crosswalks use one color of lights along either side of the crosswalk and sound to warn drivers of crossing pedestrians and cyclists. Inherent flaws with the system, however, make these crosswalks increasingly dangerous. Oftentimes the lights are too low hanging and the colors distorted. As a result, few people take these crosswalks seriously. Mary’s particular intersection gives her a 1 in 150,000 chance of getting hit by a vehicle (double her chance of getting struck by lightning). Comparatively, 1 in 2.2 million pedestrians get hit crossing at an intersection with traffic lights. Yes these numbers are small, but crossing at this particular flashing crosswalk increases your chances of getting hit fourteen-fold.

Many people believe that a sign like this would have a greater effect than an 8 MPH Sign.

These flashing crosswalks pose additional risks for bicycles. Boulder city officials report that 70 percent of flashing crosswalk accidents involve bicycles. Ironically, increased flashing crosswalk use shows increased incidences of pedestrian and cyclist injury despite decreased occurrences of car accidents. To combat these issues, transportation workers hope to implement new regulations to decrease the incidence of accident.

These traffic changes call for more responsibility for the pedestrians and bikers using the crosswalks. According to the Daily Camera, the new traffic codes include an 8 mph crosswalk speed limit, doubled fining in construction areas, and restricted parking on narrow roads.

A sign depicting the thoughts and feelings of what some cyclists wish they could do to peds.

However, these new laws may not be so practical. For Mary, the 8 mph crosswalk speed limit seems impossible to follow. Her bike never came equipped with a speedometer, and she doesn’t know where to get one. Besides, will Boulder police really get paid to sit at intersections and track cyclist speeds? Real criminals won’t exactly cease their illegal activities in the meantime. In that case, what incentive does Mary have for obeying this new law? In fact, she may unknowingly disobey. In light of these concerns, the effectiveness of these new changes seems doomed. We will simply have to wait and see if new 8 MPH signage will have an effect on crosswalk accident rate in Boulder.

For the complete list of new regulations, see below:
• 8 mph speed limit
• Crosswalks must activate the warning device before crossing or face consequences
• Doubled fining in construction work zones
• Legalization of back-in angled parking and multi-lane road parking
• Restricted parking on narrow roads
• Prohibition of passing vehicles stopped for pedestrians at crosswalks

Bikers, drivers, pedestrians: what are your thoughts and feelings about the new laws? We encourage everyone to comment below.

– A. Li