Pedestrian safety

After six pedestrian deaths in two months -- including three children -- you'd think valley motorists might approach crosswalks with added caution and less haste, at least for a little while.

North Las Vegas police found otherwise Tuesday, when they issued 175 citations to drivers who failed to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks at Craig Road and Ferrell Street. The Review-Journal's Adrienne Packer reported this week that police were more shocked by the callousness of the drivers they cited than by the number of tickets they wrote.

"They said, 'I saw them (pedestrians). I wasn't going to hit them,' " North Las Vegas officer Chrissie Coon said. "The problem was more the attitude of the motorists."

Such sentiments explain why so many motorists think nothing of making right and left turns across crosswalks, just a few feet in front of or behind completely vulnerable pedestrians. They also explain why so many folks out walking their dogs or pushing their children in strollers will simply wave vehicles through and wait until there is no traffic before crossing the street.

The gesture is not done out of courtesy. It's the pedestrian's way of saying, "I value my life and I don't trust you."

On Wednesday, police, traffic engineers, lawmakers and citizens gathered at UNLV to talk about the recent deaths and potential solutions. They talked of how crosswalks give some pedestrians a false sense of security, and how the valley's driving culture encourages pedestrians to jaywalk amid thin traffic rather than use a crosswalk at a busy intersection. Henderson recently put lines 40 feet in front of crosswalks to make cars stop sooner.

Enforcement is certainly part of the solution. No one likes traffic stings, but as Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie noted in a Wednesday meeting with the Review-Journal's editorial board, they make drivers concentrate on following the law.

This is not a complicated issue. Drivers need to slow down, and pedestrians are wise to remember that having the right of way doesn't guarantee a safe crossing.