Seattle Press on Line - Letter to the Editor: Crosswalk Safety

Letter to the Editor: Crosswalk Safety

Aug 29, 2002 -- ON MARCH 28, 2002, at the intersection of 15th NE & 170th Avenue in Shoreline, WA, my daughter, Tia, was struck and killed by a car. At that moment, every hope and dream I had for her was extinguished. Tia was the most beautiful and precious everything in my life.
Since then, I have been motivated to make Shoreline’s crosswalks safe for other children.

I first talked to Shoreline Mayor Scott Jepsen and Deputy Mayor Kevin Grossman. My attempts to convey my situation seemed fruitless.
Next, I visited Governor Gary Locke who referred me to the Washington Traffic Safety Commission Office. They offered to give Shoreline an undisclosed amount of money, for the installation of two in-pavement lights (paying for the equipment and installation).

Neither Jepsen nor Grossman seemed to be interested in this accomplishment. They said they needed to conduct a study before any action could be taken.

To support the need for safety awareness, I studied the accident history on 15th NE. Within the records of Washington State Department of Transportation, I found out that, from 1990 to May 2002, 990 accidents occurred on 15th NE between the intersections of 145th and 175th. From 1994 to May 2002, between the intersections of 165th and 175th on 15th NE, 198 accidents occurred. This is a total of 120 injuries, 13 of those are disabling and 6 were deaths – and that’s just within this 10 blocks.

After putting together this comprehensive study on unsafe pedestrian facilities for 15th NE, I again approached Jepsen and Grossman showing them that the pedestrian crossings on 15th NE in Shoreline were dangerous. I gave them the data with hopes that they will implement the safe installations of the two needed ‘‘in-pavement crossing lights.’’

Scott Jepsen and Kevin Grossman, how many of our precious children have to die before you figure we need traffic safety in our neighborhood?

David G. Townsend

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merilee catero	Sep 11, 2002	Seattle, Wa 98115	videiographer
I am in sympathy with the father who lost his daughter. we have become a society that values cars over lives. I too have tried to get enforcement on our street to slow down cars. it is practically inpossible. The City of Seattle is so afraid of lawsuits by drivers of cars who don't want devices to slow them down, such as, circles, speed bumps, etc. This is ridiculous how many more people are going to be maimed or killed because the government is afraid of the all mighty driver. Merilee