Perils of Parallel Walks

It is a pity that Main Roads seems so fixated on journey times for motorists, to the detriment of pedestrians ('Faster lights make for quicker trips', West Australian, 25th October). It would be interesting to see an assessment of pedestrian crossing times with parallel walk phases in the city where these have replaced the previous 'scramble' crossings.

But the greater problem with parallel walks is outside the heavy traffic areas of the Perth CBD, where the time given to pedestrians is totally inadequate. Often, a pedestrian is unable even to reach the middle of the road before the signal for motor vehicles turns green.

Perth drivers, being as they are, seem to be incapable of observing that there is a pedestrian crossing the road or, if they do, they expect him/her to stop in the middle of the road rather than completing the crossing. 

It is not just left-turning drivers, either. Right-turning drivers are likely to be looking for a gap in the oncoming traffic and take advantage of that gap when it occurs, often irrespective of whether there is a pedestrian crossing the road they are turning into.

My grandchildren and whoever is accompanying them have to cross two legs of a nearby intersection on their way to school every day and I have lost count of the number of times drivers have failed to see them. On one occasion, I was physically assaulted by the driver of a car after I failed to scamper out of the way when he drove at me.

The solution is simple - extend the time for pedestrians before traffic gets a green light. Allowing for reaction time (to observe the green pedestrian light), the pedestrian time needs to be at least ten seconds rather the current four to give all pedestrians (including children, the elderly and those with disabilities) a sensible time to cross a four-lane road.

At places like this, it's not as though such an increase would have a huge impact on driver travel times, as the traffic usually clears in a single phase and the pedestrian phase is not used every time. And drivers are quite likely to catch the red at the next set of signals anyway.