“Don’t Walk”

According to This Day in History, back in 1952 New York City installed the first “Don’t Walk” signs in an attempt to decrease the number of pedestrian deaths occurring on the crowded streets of Manhattan. (If they have reduced the fatalities I hate to think of what they would be today without those signs. TDH reports there were 5,307 pedestrian deaths in 1997. Although they don’t say, the article leads you to believe this is just in NYC, but even if it is the national figure it is still ridiculous. Think of that the next time you see a report touting the number of soldiers who died fighting a war in Iraq!)

You’ve all seen those signs and the cruel joke of a button attached to them. You know, the one that says something to the effect “Push to Cross.” You’re supposed to be able to alter the light signals by pushing that little button so you, the waiting-but-in-a-hurry pedestrian, can scurry across the traffic lanes. Now, think about that for just one second. The city has had traffic engineers working for years to keep the traffic moving smoothly. Sensors have been installed beneath the road’s pavement to sense traffic movements. They have computerized the changing of the lights on intersections throughout town so as to minimize the possibility of gridlock. Do you really, really think they are going to let you come along a F**k that all up just so you can get across the street? I don’t think so! Yet people continue to walk up to the corner, look up at the “Don’t Walk” sign and push that stupid button! Must be the same wish/hope/desire that gets them to buy lottery tickets. But the odds are even worse. That light’s gonna change when it was programmed to change and you aren’t going to be able to override that program with that stupid little button—if it is even wired to anything at all!

UPDATE: Apparently, the figure for pedestrian deaths is a national one. I found this article Metro Area Tops Nation in Pedestrian Deaths from Wired New York Forum which states:

The Surface Transportation Policy Project, a national transportation reform coalition based in Washington, D.C., yesterday released the results of its latest two-year study of pedestrian safety in the U.S. -- a report called "Mean Streets 2004."

The coalition said walking is "by far" the most dangerous mode of travel per mile in the U.S. The fatality rate for public transit is 0.75 deaths per 100 million miles, while the rate is 1.3 in passenger cars and trucks, 7.3 on commercial airliners -- and 20.1 for pedestrians. …

There were 4,919 pedestrian deaths in the U.S. in 2002 and 4,827 pedestrian deaths in 2003, according to the report.

The study, now in its fifth edition, found that, while the raw number of pedestrian fatalities has decreased between 1994 and 2003, the number is misleading -- because fewer people are walking now than they were in 1994. The percent of commuters who walked declined 24.9 percent between 1990 and 2000, according to the U.S. Census.