PEDESTRIAN SAFETY The City of Takoma Park prides itself on being pedestrian friendly. However, complaints continue about motorists failing to yield at crosswalks and driving at excessive speed. Although police officers are focusing on this problem, the Department is offering some tips for both motorists and pedestrians. Pedestrian Responsibilities: Maryland Vehicle Law specifies numerous duties to pedestrians, noting that vehicles have the right-of way between street crossings.

Among the duties of pedestrians are to:

• not leave a curb or place of safety and walk or run into the path of a vehicle so closely that the driver cannot yield
• "use due care and caution" to avoid injury
• follow all traffic control signals, including not crossing once a signal light turns yellow
• yield if not crossing in a marked crosswalk, using "greatest care for his/her own protection"
• walk facing traffic if no sidewalk is available
• yield to emergency vehicles using audible signals.

Pedestrians should not cross intersections diagonally. A crosswalk must be marked; custom or habit does not create a crosswalk.

The Motorist's Responsibilities:

A basic tenant of driving remains that a pedestrian "has the right of way" in a crosswalk. In addition to following speed limits and other rules, the motorist holds an obligation to:

• check for pedestrians "where they are expected"
• warn pedestrians with a horn if necessary
• exercise caution towards any child or "obviously incapacitated" pedestrian.

A motorist must also stop and yield at a sidewalk when entering from an alley, drive or building. Laws prohibit passing another vehicle yielding to a pedestrian in a crosswalk.

Of the eleven (11) pedestrian collision calls in the year 2000, the pedestrian was found at fault in seven, a bicyclist in one, with the motorist at fault in the remaining three. Pedestrians not using a crosswalk and running into a vehicle's path from between parked cars or a bus were the most common error.

In the past five years, Montgomery County reported 71 pedestrian fatalities. One pedestrian fatality occurred in the City in which both the driver and walker shared fault.

Click here to visit our Tips for Teaching Youth About Walking Safety.

COMMENTS & QUESTIONS

POLICE HOME PAGE