Here are some more details on Saturday’s incident in Cedar Park when a pedestrian was hit by a car. Police say a 25-year-old woman was hit at about 6:20 p.m. at the intersection of 48th and Cedar and taken to the hospital (no word on her condition yet). A 74-year-old female driver who struck the young woman remained on the scene, according to police.
Two more incidents happened over the weekend, both on Friday morning. A pedestrian was struck by a box truck near 45th and Baltimore and taken to the hospital (no word on this person’s condition) and a bicyclist was hit by a car on the South Street Bridge and had minor injuries, according to witnesses.
Some West Philly Local readers took to social media to discuss intersections where two of the incidents took place.
“The intersections of Cedar and both 47th and 48th are dangerous. Cars fly down Cedar to beat the trolley on Balt[imore] and 48th is treated like a highway. Anyone have any ideas on making this safer?” posted one of them on West Philly Local‘s Facebook page.
“The 45th & Baltimore intersection is also dangerous because vehicles exiting the A-Plus onto Baltimore feel they can either (1) go with the green light along with the cars going north on 45th AND/OR (2) make a short right turn onto Baltimore, light color of no significance. I’ve witnessed at least 4 incidents out my window,” wrote another reader.
October 6th, 2014 at 4:25 pm
I am no expert on this, but regarding making conditions safer, I have heard about a safety policy called Vision Zero, which (I think) the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia is supporting. Incidentally, NYC has gotten behind Vision Zero as well.
October 6th, 2014 at 8:46 pm
I happen to live on the corner of 48th and Cedar. I was the first to respond to the woman who was hit on Saturday.
This corner is horribly dangerous. Anyone who spends five minutes watching traffic here will see how bad it is. At one point a couple of years ago a few neighbors and I painted the words “FULL STOP” on the street before all 4 of the stop signs. We used parking lot paint and full sized street marking stencils. It was a lot of work and really made no difference in the traffic even thought it was very obvious and looked like it was done by the city. (It wore off after a few months).
We’ve been living there for 11 years and have seen many accidents, all of which were cause by people not stopping or yielding to the right-of-way. I believe the most effective way would be to have something in the pavement that makes it unpleasant to speed through but doesnt interfere with bus traffic. I’ve seen rows of “bumps” sort of a rumble strip that just slows the flow at the intersection. Recently a couple of traffic signs have been place in the middle of the street from Larchwood to Osage. My guess is that there are folks that live on that block of 48th that have similar issues. Something really needs to be done before someone is killed. Does anyone know a forum that we can address to work toward a resolve? I would love to be part of the solution.
October 8th, 2014 at 11:52 am
I completely agree that many of these intersections are dangerous, and that people drive recklessly not just in our neighborhood- but all over the city. That being said, the majority of pedestrians do not follow the rules either. When walking I try to always cross at a corner, and never on a red or yellow light. That can’t be said for most people in this city. Just because you’re on foot does not mean you always have the right of way.
In general Philadelphians, and residents of many US cities, show a complete lack of respect among all groups: cyclists, pedestrians, and motorists. Until that is addressed among all parties, the streets will remain unsafe and filled with aggression.