BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

When was this?? I didn't know anything about it, and live close by

Awesome - I hope they do this more and I'm curious which block they did the check on. This is a super dangerous road.

More often than not, when I stop for Peds at the flashing-sign crosswalk near the tennis courts (which was erected after a woman and her dog were killed by a speeding motorist), cars will speed up and pass me WHILE PEDESTRIANS ARE CROSSING THE STREET IN FRONT OF MY CAR!

[edit] people who bike the stretch of S Braddock between Regent Square and Penn Ave should consider moving out one block to East End Ave. It is much mellower.

Wow.

I have two questions: what was the time of day, and how many cars total passed through in that time.

It would make a big difference if it was midnight-3AM, vs. noon - 3PM. And, if it was 40/800 total cars, vs. 40/160.

Inquiring minds want to know.

http://www.edgewood.pgh.pa.us/edgewoodpolice/news.htm

This doesn't list an October check point, but several earlier ones. Dang, a lot of people driving with no licence / suspended license / no insurance, etc. Then, there's the drunks.

[edit] nevermind, the link above says it was a September checkpoint on the 1600 Block...that's near the on/off ramps for Parkway East.

Well that's my daily commute, think they did one earlier this year it was across the street from applebees. No other way to go besides commercial. Think I'll stick with braddock ave.

Pseuda- someone on the north side blew around and past me on the north side Friday while peds were crossing in the crosswalk. They were almost hit by said car and only stopped cause I blew my horn and they took notice.

I saw some state/city recently passed a law making passing someone who has stopped for a crosswalk illegal... well, the intent is good but its no as if failing to yield is already legal and they needed another law. As this shows, if they spent a fraction of the effort enforcing existing laws, maybe 100 people a day wouldn't have to get murdered by drivers.

you cyclists really need to stop running red lights and stop signs

i wonder how the city could generate some money rather than raise property taxes to find the library? Anybody have any ideas?

Hmmm no idea! I wish there was a good idea in this thread....

Tax cyclists for their free-loading road use, surely?

@steevo

Maybe the county could do their property assessments more than once a decade

Wait and see how much money the City's going to make when they put up cameras and start mailing out tickets for drivers who run red lights…

Pierce - there's a lot of state politics wrapped up in that one. Even my 2002 assessment... it's about half what the house is worth, but if the millage wasn't adjusted accordingly I couldn't afford to keep the house if it was assessed properly (even renting it out would not be affordable). Property taxes are a dirty issue.

The whole problem is not enforcement, or missing laws, or taxes. The basic problem is somehow society views road deaths as a "necessary evil" and public safety (and funding the libraries) as "someone else's problem". Until road deaths and publich safety become more universally "my responsibility" and funding the libraries become a "necessary evil", we'll have dead pedestrians and closing libraries.

Not that I'm opposed to creative solutions to get people to do what they should despite themselves, but the greater will is lacking. THAT's the problem to solve.

I support the law about passing someone stopped at a crosswalk.

Sure, it's bad not to yield. It's worse to cruise around someone esel who has. Might as well toss another charge in there.

ejwme is correct - it is a failure of political will to stop the deaths. On some level elected officials motivate law enforcement - or lack thereof.

However much you legislate, you can't legislate the stupid out of people.

@Mick - It's definitely against the law to pass someone stopped at a crosswalk. In particular:

Section 3542:

(c) Limitation on vehicles passing.--Whenever any vehicle is stopped at any crosswalk at an intersection or at any marked crosswalk to permit a pedestrian to cross the roadway, the driver of any other vehicle approaching from the rear shall not overtake and pass the stopped vehicle.

I don't know whether that's a separate fine from failure to yield, but I hope it is.

Hey Ryan, did you get my PM?

I didn't.

damn. ok, can you give me a call in a half hour at the office? 325.4334

Am I in trouble?

yes. big big trouble. call me at noon.

i feel that if the police enforced the use of turn signals in cars and gave everyone a $50 fine they would have more than enough money to pay for the libraries and maybe even help out the transit system to boot.