Politics & Government
Following Crosswalk Accident, City Tackles Main Street Safety
The city will install a series of crosswalk signs on Main Street to improve safety. This month a pedestrian was hit in a crosswalk when a driver accidentally hit the gas instead of braking.
Seal Beach officials hope new crosswalk signs will increase pedestrian safety along the city’s heavily traveled Main Street.
The city plans to install a series of signs aimed at catching drivers’ attention as they enter the crosswalks that crisscross Main Street. In the last month, an attorney who works on Main Street was hospitalized when a driver plowed into him in the crosswalk. However the new signs were not prompted by the accident, according to a city official.
“Marked crosswalks are useful as a means of channelizing pedestrian traffic into desirable paths of travel across streets at appropriate intersections or mid-block locations,” Seal Beach Administrative Manager Patrick Gallegos said in a written release. “To increase the safety of pedestrians on Main Street, the City of Seal Beach will install a new pedestrian crosswalk sign on the 100 and 200 block of Main Street... the new signs will also be reflective so that drivers can easily view the signs at night.”
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Pedestrian and cyclist safety has long been a concern for Main Street merchants and city officials.
“In the short term, the new signage will increase the awareness of the crosswalk on Main Street during the day and night,” said Mayor Pro Tem Ellery Deaton. “However, I will continue to research crosswalk devices being used in other cities to find a more permanent crosswalk device that is appropriate for Old Town and will ensure the safety of pedestrians.”
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In this month’s accident, a driver errantly stepped on the gas instead of the brake, which caused the car to lunge forward and hit the pedestrian walking across the marked crosswalk, according to the Seal Beach Police Department.
“The vehicle was well under the speed limit,” said Gallegos. “Crosswalk signage at the location would most likely not have prevented this accident from occurring since the driver made an operational error.”
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