It seems like everything is open for negotiation in this town. Quid pro quo … one hand washes the other … I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine … and that applies to Metro as well. We get many complaints here about the lighting in Metro stations. Many of you feel that the stations are way too dark and like dungeons.
The word “depressing” is used with great frequency when describing many of them. Those of you who feel this way or who can sympathize with these feelings will be happy to know that Metro is doing something about it. A new lighting scheme will be unveiled tomorrow that promises not only to make the stations in which it is used brighter, but also to save energy — a pretty good trick if they can pull it off.
I must admit that I’m one of those who actually finds the “soft lighting” in the Metro stations soothing and a nice contrast to the harsh lights inside the trains. I will admit, though, that it’s sometimes hard to read while standing on the platform.
Taken to task over comments
Brooke wrote in to take me to task for some comments I made about state troopers interviewing a driver in the median of Interstate 95 and the 5-mile backup it created: “While I sympathize with your opening paragraph in the May 22 Examiner Sprawl & Crawl article, I must point out that wasted gas and time is an excusable exception to your suggested alternative. You wrote that the Maryland State Police troopers could easily interrogate the stopped driver within their police vehicle. That is exactly what MSP Trooper Timothy Wolfe did on I-95 on March 29, 1990. He was then murdered in the driver’s seat of his cruiser. Because of this, law enforcement across the nation changed their tactics; your suggestion is simply not an option. Troopers, especially those assigned to highway barracks, and county police agencies across the region are well trained as to what effect rush-hour roadside activity has on traffic flow. Your statement takes liberty of a multitude of assumptions as to what the situation that day truly was. Perhaps if you learned that the situation involved a victimized friend or relative, you would realize that the traffic wait was worth it. Keep perspective of these situations.”
Thanks for those thoughts and concerns, Brooke. I hope we can find a balance between safety and traffic management.
Yielding to pedestrians
Eight pedestrians have been killed so far this year in the District, six of them in Ward 8 and two of them children. Police say these tragedies were primarily caused by drivers failing to stop for pedestrians in a crosswalk, or by drivers passing vehicles stopped for pedestrians in a crosswalk.
The truly frightening thing is that a recent analysis of high pedestrian crash intersections in the District shows that fewer than half of all drivers yield to pedestrians in a crosswalk. Here comes the science: A pedestrian hit by a driver traveling at 40 mph has a 90 percent chance of dying. A pedestrian hit by a driver traveling at 25 mph has a 15 percent chance of dying.
And of course if you come to a complete stop when there are pedestrians around, they have zero chance of dying.
Questions, comments, random musings? Write to [email protected] and listen to Steve’s reports on NewsTalk WMET 1160 AM every weekday at 7:30 a.m., 12:30 and 5:30 p.m.
