Open forum: Road Code bill is important improvement for pedestrian safety

But education and enforcement cannot solve the pedestrian safety problems alone. That fact was evident on April 5 in Wheaton, where a pedestrian in a marked crosswalk was the victim of a hit-and-run accident only two miles from where county police were passing out safety brochures as part of the Street Smart safety education campaign.

A third and critical component of pedestrian safety is engineering, the subject of a bill pending before the County Council sponsored by Councilwomen Nancy M. Floreen, Marilyn J. Praisner, Duchy Trachtenberg and Valerie Ervin, the council’s representative to the Pedestrian Safety Advisory Committee.

Bill 48-06, the ‘‘Road Code bill,” would set new, context-sensitive design standards for new county roads. These standards, which are similar to standards developed by national experts, would facilitate pedestrian safety by including non-vehicular road users in the design process. Today’s pedestrians are living with the legacy of outdated, automobile-centric planning. Many street crossings are too long for pedestrians to cross safely, and traffic calming devices are relatively rare.

The Road Code bill would help modernize our road standards for today’s dense, more urban community. Shorter crossings will result in shorter crossing times and fewer dangers for the walking public. New mandates for traffic calming devices will make residential streets safer, without impairing vehicular throughput on major roads.

The Road Code bill represents a critical improvement in county engineering toward a safer, more walkable community. We urge the council to adopt Bill 48-06, the Comprehensive Revisions to the Road Code.

Bill Frick, Bethesda; Linda S. Katz and Mike Flood, Silver Spring; Erwin Mack, Langley Park

The writers are members of the Montgomery County Pedestrian Safety Advisory Committee.