BRATTLEBORO — Town Hall's anti-pedestrian attitude has grown to attributing the pedestrians deaths to the pedestrian while leaving the driver blameless. This notion is shamefully reinforced by this article, and reality needs to bite hard on the backside of those who can make a difference.
Alice Charkes wants “pedestrians ... to not be hit by [motorists] [and] bicyclists not hit [pedestrians].” Too bad she doesn't see to care about motorists hitting pedestrians.
Here's a few rules of thumb for motorists that were conveniently omitted from your story:
1. Turn your damn lights on! Especially at dusk and dawn, when the natural light is inconsistent, but also during those grim, dark, overcast days that might as well be near nightfall. The object is less about being able to see better but to be seen.
2. Stop “playing chicken” at or outright blowing through the crosswalks with pedestrians who are already in the crosswalk and have the right of way.
In particular, drivers going south on Main Street and making an (illegal) right turn onto High Street; cars going through the crosswalk connecting the Transportation Center to the north side of Elliot Street; and those who ignore the crosswalk on Flat Street to get to the Co-op.
3. Stop running red lights, even if there's no cop around. In one incident, a pickup truck blew the red while the pedestrians had the light in the middle of the afternoon; the truck was going north on Main, blowing through the south crosswalk next to Flat Street and right in front of someone who was crossing west to east. Excellent way to smash a walker.
And remember, once you step out of your vehicle (or dismount from your bike), you are now a pedestrian. Good luck with that.
The Safe Streets Project stencil was simply ugly graffiti that, done by an average citizen, would have gotten them a ticket. The garish colors and idiotic placement were thankfully washed away within days. That organization needs to find better things to do or simply disband.
Finally, unmentioned throughout the 112 column inches (including graphics): the incredible tap dance around the recent hit and run, a stone-cold case that will never be solved, which really exposes The Commons' skewed sensibilities, announced in the opening paragraphs.
Shameful and pathetic.