Seeing Red...and Blue and Yellow and....
If you've been through downtown Fitchburg over the past few days you may have noticed that they are once again busy painting the crosswalks red.
Well it's not a very smart thing to do. The painted surface is a slip hazzard for pedestrians and single track vehicles. There were complaints last year from some of the Longjo riders about the slick crosswalks. Apparently, the complaints didn't reach the right people.
Sure they paint the crosswalks in Leominster blue and the ones in Lancaster have been painted yellow. That doesn't make it an acceptable practice.
Just my opininion but I think it's just a matter of time before a bicyclist, motorcyclist or pedestrian with osteoporosis slips and fracture a hip until one of these communities finds themselves being sued over this practice.
Update
"Anonymous said...
Save money stop wasting paint!"
6/05/2006 09:12:51 PM
Noway said
I'm assuming that was sarcasm but...
Three points.
This is not about the cost of paint. It's about the safety of people who use the crosswalk (pedestians) or have to cross the these crosswalks and are dependant on traction to maintain vehicle stability (bicycles and motorcycles).
OTOH - Fitchburg, and many other communities, are constantly struggling with supposed tight budgets. Folks like to make light of small expenditures by saying they're a drop in the bucket when talking about a $94 million dollar budget. Remember, when you're at or over budget, every extra drop causes the bucket to overflow. New street signs, intersections redesigned by plumbers, unneccessary stop signs, passing petitions for lighted signs on Water Street (we'll find the money later) it all adds up.
The real cost, if there will be one, is the cost of settling a law suit over injuries that were incurred as a result of reduced traction on a crosswalk. Hopefully it will be some other community or a business with deep pockets that faces that lawsuit and not Fitchburg. I'm not in favor of litigation but if cities and towns in the commonwealth won't get it any other way then so be it.
Well it's not a very smart thing to do. The painted surface is a slip hazzard for pedestrians and single track vehicles. There were complaints last year from some of the Longjo riders about the slick crosswalks. Apparently, the complaints didn't reach the right people.
Sure they paint the crosswalks in Leominster blue and the ones in Lancaster have been painted yellow. That doesn't make it an acceptable practice.
Just my opininion but I think it's just a matter of time before a bicyclist, motorcyclist or pedestrian with osteoporosis slips and fracture a hip until one of these communities finds themselves being sued over this practice.
Update
"Anonymous said...
Save money stop wasting paint!"
6/05/2006 09:12:51 PM
Noway said
I'm assuming that was sarcasm but...
Three points.
This is not about the cost of paint. It's about the safety of people who use the crosswalk (pedestians) or have to cross the these crosswalks and are dependant on traction to maintain vehicle stability (bicycles and motorcycles).
OTOH - Fitchburg, and many other communities, are constantly struggling with supposed tight budgets. Folks like to make light of small expenditures by saying they're a drop in the bucket when talking about a $94 million dollar budget. Remember, when you're at or over budget, every extra drop causes the bucket to overflow. New street signs, intersections redesigned by plumbers, unneccessary stop signs, passing petitions for lighted signs on Water Street (we'll find the money later) it all adds up.
The real cost, if there will be one, is the cost of settling a law suit over injuries that were incurred as a result of reduced traction on a crosswalk. Hopefully it will be some other community or a business with deep pockets that faces that lawsuit and not Fitchburg. I'm not in favor of litigation but if cities and towns in the commonwealth won't get it any other way then so be it.
posted by noway @ 6/05/2006 07:31:00 PM
1 Comments:
At 6/05/2006 09:12:00 PM,
Anonymous said…
Save money stop wasting paint!
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