We’re all familiar with the game we played on the sidewalk as children: Red Light Green Light One Two Three. A much more dangerous version exists when motorists play it behind the wheel of a car in an attempt to beat traffic signals about to go red.
The New York City Department of Transportation(DOT) recently installed countdown signals at some of the major intersections on Cross Bay Boulevard. The chosen locations feature an LED countdown of the number of seconds a pedestrian has to cross the street.
Designed as an initiative to make local streets safer for pedestrians, the signals clearly offer an additional benefit—they take the guess work out of the situation for motorists as well.
Come on – admit it. How many times have you gunned the car across one of the boulevard’s intersectionsto beat the light once the red hand signal begins blinking. Now you can look at the timer and know exactly whether or not you have enough time to make the light without turning the car on two wheels to save a second of your time and perhaps take years off an unfortunate pedestrian’s life.
DOT installed pedestrian countdowns at about 1,100 intersections across the city, including some along Queens Boulevard, dubbed the “Boulevard of Death” for the large number of pedestrians who have been struck and killed on the major thoroughfare.
According to statistics announced in the first week of January this year, “this will be the city’s safest traffic year in the more than 100 years since records were kept,” said Mayor Bloomberg. In 2011 there were 237 traffic fatalities in 2011, a 40% drop over the last ten years.
We commend the DOT and the city on the initiative and we urge all motorists to recognize the benefit of the countdown. As you approach the signal, you are well aware as to how much time you have to make the turn or proceed straight through the light. You’re not a kid anymore and you need to know that the new game is just Green Light Red Light – so if the counter is at 1, 2 or 3 you shouldn’t be doing anything but stopping for the light.
