Due to an increasing number of motorists who refuse to stop and allow individuals to utilize the pedestrian crossing, Road Traffic Assistant Controller Stephanie Rahming is calling on all road users to adhere to the traffic laws in this regard.
Responding to reports of motorists showing lack of concern for the safety of persons seeking to use the pedestrian crossing, Rahming said the whole matter goes back to educating drivers on the proper use of the road and about driving with due care and attention.
The assistant controller said once a pedestrian steps on the pedestrian crossing, the driver of the approaching car should be driving with due care and attention and must allow the pedestrian to cross over safely.
Furthermore, she is certain it is a safety issue where motorist have to drive with responsibility and give way to persons using the pedestrian crossing.
“Afterall, that is why they are marked in the street,” Rahming said “So that pedestrians can cross safely from one side of the street to the other without fear of being knocked down by a car.
“Once a person steps on that crossing, then of course the motorist has to give way to that person because he or she now has the right of way. So motorist must wait until the pedestrian safely makes it across the pedestrian crossing.”
Just two weeks ago at the first ever Road Safety Awareness Day in Independence Park, Rahming noted that 2005 was a phenomenal year for the amount of traffic fatalities recorded in Grand Bahama.
Out of the 23 persons who succumbed to injuries sustained in car crashes, three of them were pedestrians. She said they included 14 males and nine females, including one who was pregnant.
She noted this high level of loss of life on the streets is alarming and unacceptable, adding that it has resulted in the useless waste of human life, causing pain and grief to families from all walks of life.
Rahming said there is a barrier marking on the street where the car should stop behind to allow for the pedestrian to safely cross the street. She advises pedestrians to be very careful before crossing and to do so only when they sense that it is safe. She said if there is a continuos steam of traffic going back and forth, then it would wise to wait and until it is safe to cross.
“The responsibility of safety goes both to the motorist and the pedestrian. On a busy thoroughfare or once there is heavy traffic, once I put my foot on that crossing as a pedestrian, it is up to the motorist to pay attention to that,” she said.
By: LISA S. KING, Freeport News, Asst. Editor
