By Mark Wright

The darkly dressed figure staggered and gestured as he walked down the middle of a traffic lane on Veirs Mill Road in Montgomery County. The hour was late. The night was dark--and so was this stretch of road.

The man seemed not only drunk, but totally oblivious to the danger of being run over. Traffic was unusually light, but cars whizzed by in the two lanes to his left. No vehicle in his lane could have stopped in time.

A driver in the center lane passed by on the man's left, then swung around the block and slowly pulled behind him, with hazard lights flashing, like a rolling road flare to warn others.

Happily, the man finally staggered onto a residential side street that had sidewalks and headed out of harm's way.

Caution or Catastrophe?
While that encounter would have been troubling even in broad daylight, the lack of light increased the danger. Similarly, as daylight hours wane with the coming of fall, earlier evenings mean lower visibility--and greater risk.

The return to standard time means people will be walking home or running for buses in the dark. Yet drivers have a harder time seeing walkers and cyclists at twilight and at night. And some pedestrians don't exactly help matters, wearing dark clothing and cutting across several lanes of a busy road either mid-block or against signals.

When either a driver or a pedestrian fails to exercise caution, the result can be catastrophic. There are no winners in a collision between a person and a vehicle, but the biggest loser will certainly be the unprotected pedestrian.

"The older you are, the more likely you are to die if you're hit," says Christy Huddle, pedestrian safety coordinator for Montgomery County. She explains that the elderly have the worst fatality rates, regardless of the speed of the vehicle that hit them, because they're the most fragile.

Huddle says pedestrians need to make sure they are visible. She recommends wearing something reflective--either reflectivity-rated clothing, or an actual reflector device.

The photo above shows two examples of small, fashionable but effective reflectors that can be worn while walking. (One online source: pedsafe.com.)

Paying Attention
Being a pedestrian is potentially hazardous regardless of the weather or time of day. So walkers and cyclists have to be extra aware of their surroundings, and anticipate drivers' actions. Will they speed up, slow down, suddenly turn?

Pedestrians have to go the extra mile, so to speak, to make themselves safer. In addition to becoming more visible, pedestrians need to keep themselves out of a vehicle's path, crossing only at crosswalks--and only when signals say walk.

Even then, a pedestrian who steps into the path of a car that's "supposed" to stop is courting trouble. (Best to get out of the way before yelling at a driver who rolls through a crosswalk!)

Driving No Picnic
Drivers have their complaints about pedestrians, too, of course. Most drivers "feel so awful when they have a close call," says Huddle--although she adds that it's "pathetic" how many people flaunt speed limits.

Drivers these days have to deal not only with unpredictable pedestrians, but also with greater traffic volumes, hazardous road conditions from construction and utility work, not to mention fellow cellphone--distracted drivers.

To use an old but relevant cliche: It's a jungle out there for everyone.

Designing Solutions
Fortunately, some communities are working to tame that jungle, by engineering solutions that help both drivers and pedestrians to safely coexist.

In Arlington, for example, the county has been redesigning many streets to make them more walkable, says David Goodman, urban designer for the county's WalkArlington program.

For one thing, notes Goodman, they have added thousands of new apartments and condos in certain corridors. By making these areas more urban, the number of walkers has significantly increased. That alone can make drivers slow down a little and take notice of pedestrians, says Goodman.

"We're also improving pedestrian crossings, and encouraging on-street parking wherever possible as a buffer between traffic and pedestrians," Goodman notes.

Such improvements can only do so much, of course. Pedestrians and drivers alike need to be extra cautious during darker hours.

Visit www.montgomerycountymd.gov/walk and www.walkarlington.com for more tips and resources.

Mark Wright is a freelance writer based in Rockville, Maryland. Find details about his services at www.markwright.com. Copyright © 2005 by Mark Wright Communications LLC. All rights reserved.

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