Letters to the Editor: Can we reduce pedestrian deaths while keeping right turns on red? – August 1, 2000
Dear Editor,
Its been a year since I stopped using a wheelchair and began daily physical exercise, not counting the days in a hospital bed or in a wheelchair.
I do this by walking with a light-duty cane or walker. I started out by walking to the post office and back, by the time I reached my turn to mail a package. I stopped using a cane then but still use walkers for everyday use.
I do these physical exercises when its necessary and, as in the case of a fall or a car accident, when something unexpected happens.
Id like to ask, then, if youd be willing to increase the speed limit for pedestrian intersections for a period of one year.
In a letter to the editor of the Aug. 12, the Sun-Sentinel said that the Department of Transportation is preparing to make a proposal for reduce[ing] pedestrian deaths on all city streets.
Since then, the state Department of Transportation has gone public with their proposal to reduce pedestrian deaths on all state roadways by 90 percent and reduce the number of fatalities on city highways by 70 percent.
As a New Haven resident, I was alarmed a few weeks ago when the city was informed that pedestrian accidents are rising by the minute.
Now the question is this: Since the city is proposing to change some of the standard red-light and stop-sign regulations, isnt it time to begin a review of the existing pedestrian regulations to determine whether we can increase the speed limit for pedestrian intersections for one year?
A letter sent to this newspaper by the Connecticut Association for Justice says that the proposed reduction in fatalities would be welcome if it were limited to the city streets but it states that reducing the number of pedestrian deaths cannot be achieved overnight.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation