While running errands this morning, I stopped, turned around, and took a picture of this sign: “WATCH FOR STOPPING TRAFFIC” [photo] Further down Plymouth, I stopped (at two different crosswalks) for pedestrians. At one of the crosswalks, the car behind me drove around me (on the right side – doubly illegal). At the other crosswalk, the cars going the other way failed to stop. I left with the pedestrian still anxiously waiting in the middle of the street for anyone to obey the state law.
Murfin & Plymouth
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I still find it odd that Ann Arbor drivers have so much trouble with the Stop For Pedestrians law. I’ve been to plenty of cities and states where this is never a problem. And from the day I got my license some *cough* decades ago, I knew that if someone else was stopping for a pedestrian on a busy street, you should stop too – it’s just a basic rule of common sense.
Exactly!
This issue is on the agenda for tomorrow’s city council meeting. Taylor and Briere are sponsoring a change to remove the “approaching a crosswalk” language from the current ordinance.
State law currently requires drivers to stop for pedestrians in a crosswalk. The ordinance as it stands today is unique because it requires drivers to stop for people waiting at a crosswalk. Remove that language and we’re back at the state law that 98% of drivers in Ann Arbor don’t seem to be aware of or choose to ignore.
When the A2 ordinance was passed over a year ago, it came with the promise of an education campaign. It took a year to get any attention because they decided to enforce it for a day, which got AA.com attention, and resulted in this uproar. The education campaign turned out to be some flyers and some random lawn signs. I couldn’t get a lawn sign because they didn’t have enough due to a lack of funds.
It’s not the ordinance that’s flawed… it’s the implementation. Standardize crosswalks, standardize signage, get the word out on the street…literally. Give it a real chance. Comparable cities have similar ordinances that are a success. Ann Arbor is one of the most educated cities in the country… I have a feeling people would catch on quick if given the chance.
And if the ordinance is changed? I will demand another day of police enforcement of the state law and an aa.com story to follow it up. Are the same critics going to be marching on Lansing to repeal that law?