By Scott Pesznecker
For the Enterprise
LYNNWOOD — Lynnwood police Sgt. Wayne Davis expected to write some tickets when he and other officers staked out the crosswalk at a busy intersection.
He just didn’t expect to write so many.
In about an hour, he and other officers ticketed 33 drivers who either cut off or sped behind a plain-clothes officer who repeatedly crossed at 200th Street SW and 56th Avenue W.
“Drivers in general, they just don’t pay as much attention to pedestrians as they should,” Davis said.
The outcome of the June 28 crosswalk sting — the first of many planned for this year — mirrors a dangerous trend for the city’s pedestrians and bicyclists.
In 2005, Lynnwood police investigated 43 accidents in which cars and pedestrians or bicyclists collided, nearly double the number from the year before, according to accident data based on Lynnwood police reports.
Most of the accidents happened along 196th Street SW, Highway 99, around the Alderwood mall and on 168th Street SW near Meadowdale High School, records show.
The number of accidents this year is about the same as it was at this time in 2005, Davis said.
Many people who were hit by cars last year were not using crosswalks, Lynnwood police spokeswoman Shannon Sessions said.
“It’s an injury or a fatality that can be avoided,” Sessions said. “If you’re hit by a car, you’re going to lose. You don’t want to take the chance.”
Lynnwood police hope to curb the problem by cracking down on pedestrians and drivers who ignore crosswalk laws. They’ll also target drivers who run red lights, Davis said.
Police have put up posters listing pedestrian and bicycle tips in Spanish at businesses along Highway 99. A study by the National Transportation Safety Board showed that a high percentage of people who are hit by cars don’t speak English, Sessions said. The Washington Traffic Safety Commission provides the posters in Spanish and English.
“It’s time we take a proactive approach to trying to reduce the pedestrian and bicyclist injuries within the city,” Davis said.
Accidents are happening more often on the city’s main streets in part because more people are in the area, particularly those visiting the Alderwood mall, Davis said. New restaurants and a bigger movie theater opened there in late 2004.
Another problem moves faster after extra lanes were added to Highway 99 and 196th Street Southwest, city Transportation Division Manager Les Rubstello said.
The amount of traffic on those roads has changed little since 1996, which means traffic is less congested and moves faster, Rubstello said.
That’s good for rush-hour commuters, but bad for people trying to cross the street, Rubstello said.
“With most every pedestrian accident we look at, we don’t find an issue of inferior designs at crosswalks,” Lynnwood Public Works Director Bill Franz said. “It’s either late at night, or it’s a poor decision by either the driver or the pedestrian.”
A committee of police officers, firefighters and city traffic engineers has been talking about ways to solve some of the problems. Their discussions led to a new crosswalk at Edmonds Community College and the relocation of another at Meadowdale High School. The group is looking for other options to improve safety around Alderwood mall.
People would be far safer if they just used common sense, Sessions said.
“We need pedestrians to realize that cars and people don’t mix when it comes to being in the street,” she said.
“You don’t cross seven lanes of traffic without a crosswalk.”
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