Jaywalkers a growing problem

in LynnBy Chris Stevens / The Daily ItemLYNN – The number of accidents involving pedestrians and motor vehicles is slightly ahead of last year’s pace, which surprises some city residents who expected the number to be higher.Pam Barry, vice chairman of the city’s Disability Commission, said she is tired of people strolling out from between cars and darting into traffic with no concern for oncoming motorists.”On Union Street they go between the cars, they don’t use the crosswalks, it’s just so frustrating,” she said.When asked if he thought adding more crosswalks to the city’s streets would help, Police Lt. Edward Shinnick from the Traffic Division, said “not really.”Shinnick said there is little police can do about jaywalkers.”Jaywalking is basically a $1 fine,” he said. “It has no teeth and it’s almost impossible to stop people.”There were 75 pedestrians stuck by motor vehicles in 2009, according to statistics provided by Shinnick. In 2010 the number of pedestrians hit by cars dipped slightly to 67, but it is on track in 2011 to rise once again.Forty pedestrians have been hit by cars from January to July, Shinnick said.Benjamin Delosanto, a barber at Tiffany’s Barbershop on Union Street, watches the world go by in two large picture windows as he works each day.He said he is surprised more people haven’t been hit. He said he sees people cross the busy street all day long without looking.Public Works Superintendent Jay Fink said he would be hard-pressed to add more crosswalks since the city already has “literally thousands.”He said roughly $80,000 a year of Chapter 90 money, state aid aimed directly at roadwork, is used for re-lining streets, which includes painting stop lines and crosswalks.”Shortly we will paint over 100 crosswalks throughout the city,” he said.Crosswalks are primarily to keep pedestrians safe. Shinnick said motor vehicle operators must yield to pedestrians in crosswalks.However if a pedestrian darts into the street outside of a crosswalk and is struck by a driver, it might be the pedestrian’s fault, Shinnick said.Barry said she is also concerned that crossing guards are teaching children bad habits by crossing them against the lights.”They stop traffic on a green light to let kids cross,” she said. “Kids are not learning how to cross the street properly.”Barry Nardone, manager at Cal’s News on Central Avenue, said he sees customers cross in the middle of the street and drivers who aren’t always so accommodating.”You get a lot of fingers, a lot of shouting,” he said.Nardone said one customer crosses the road more than a dozen times a day picking up scratch card tickets and other items, but never uses the cross walk a half-a-block away.”One of the problems we have is that we get a lot of elderly people and being elderly they don’t want to walk down to the crosswalk,” he said. “They want to just walk straight across the street. They are a bunch of nice people but they move a bit slower and people aren’t always so courteous about it.”A school bus driver since 1997, Daniel Koen said he has seen a lot of jaywalkers.”I think people figure nothing is going to happen to them if they do jaywalk,” he said. “The police in Boston tried to crack down and enforce the laws but it was a flash in the pan.”Koen said he believes the only time the police take the issue seriously is when a politician complains.Koen said it can be particularly scary for him because as a bus driver he sits high above the street and can’t always see pedestrians slipping between cars, particularly if they are close.”The worst is when people decide to cross the street at the last minute and I have to slam on the brakes,” he said. “Or at night, they wear dark clothes, the streets aren’t well lit and they cross anywhere they want.”