The Prague Post
October 12th, 2008
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Pedestrian fatalities rise sharply

Number killed in crosswalks jumps 400 percent in two years

This crosswalk just off Vitezne namesti is one of the most dangerous for Prague pedestrians.
By Kevin Livingston
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
(January 15, 2003)


When the city of New York first installed crosswalks in the 1920s, police were authorized to shoot out the tires of vehicles that did not yield to street-crossing pedestrians. Closer to home and more recently, local authorities in Usti nad Labem drew chalk outlines on streets where pedestrians had been killed by cars.

Safety activists such as Jarmila Johnova say measures as powerful as these may be needed nationwide to protect pedestrians, who are dying in record numbers. But she's not hopeful.

"There is no political will to change anything," says Johnova, who heads Prague Mothers, a group concerned with the rising number of pedestrian deaths.

The number of pedestrian fatalities in crosswalks has jumped almost 400 percent nationally since traffic laws were changed two years ago to give pedestrians the right of way in crosswalks, according to a government report released in December by the Transportation Ministry.

The Czech Republic is one of the most dangerous countries in Central Europe for those trying to cross the street, officials say. The country also has significantly more pedestrian fatalities than countries in the European Union, which has made road safety a high priority.

According to the Interior Ministry, 59 people were killed last year crossing the street -- 26 of them were in crosswalks at the time. Another 199 people were seriously injured in crosswalks, and 580 people suffered light injuries. That's up from just seven dead in 2000, before the law was changed.

Officials say that little in the way of new safety measures are in the works because of a lack of money. And although critics and government officials point to myriad reasons for the huge increase in fatal accidents, from aggressive driving to a lack of public-safety information, little is being done to combat the growing problem, they say.

In contrast, cities across the world, from Los Angeles, California, to Bogota, Colombia, have taken action to stem the tide of pedestrian accidents -- from removing crosswalks, which give people a false sense of security, to hiring mimes to make fun of jaywalkers.


Problem ignored

Johnova calls the pedestrian accidents a real social problem that is going largely ignored. She says the road safety department at the Transportation Ministry is doing little to inform the public about the dangers of crosswalks because it says it has no money for an educational campaign.

Johnova puts much of the blame for the accidents on bad driving, which has been a documented problem especially since the fall of communism. Some sociologists have gone so far as to describe driving here as a social illness. Two current presidential candidates, Otakar Motejl and Jaroslav Bures, have each killed a pedestrian in an accident.

"Drivers are responsible for most of the accidents," Johnova says, adding that excessive speed and alcohol consumption are factors in many of the accidents.

Vaclav Spicka, road safety secretary for the Czech Autoclub, says motorists drive too fast and largely ignore crosswalks unless someone steps out in front of them. Drivers also tailgate, which makes them reluctant to brake at the last minute for fear of being rear-ended.

Pedestrians also share some of the blame, he says, but he adds that people were not given enough information about the law, which does not give pedestrians carte blanche when it comes to crossing the street.

"Pedestrians shouldn't enter the crosswalk if a car is too close, but people think they have absolute priority and step in front of cars," Spicka says.

Infrastructure is also a problem. Spicka says after the law went into effect in January 2001, a few improvements were made to existing crosswalks, including installing signs to warn drivers that they are approaching a crosswalk, putting in more crossing lights and repainting faded zebra stripes.

"The government underestimated the preparation for launching the law and no special measures were taken even after the number of accidents significantly increased," Spicka said.


Steps taken

Jaroslav Heinrich, road safety manager for the Brno-based Transportation Research Center, says several steps are being taken to improve the situation, but it will take time to put them into practice.

Heinrich says he discussed the increase in pedestrian accidents with colleagues in other countries and was told that the situation is quite normal in the first two years after such a law is implemented. "After [two years] most of the countries will see a decrease in numbers," he says.

He agrees that improvements must be made.

"Our technical standards aren't in accordance with Western European guidelines," he says.

In most EU countries, pedestrians account for about 16 percent of traffic fatalities. In the Czech Republic and other post-communist countries such as Hungary, that number is about 28 percent.

Heinrich says there is not any money available to launch a nationwide safety campaign. He adds that new safety guidelines are in the works but probably won't be ready for another year.

"It's a never-ending story," he says. "We know what we would like to do."

-- Krystof Hilsky and Ingrid Ludvikova contributed to this report.

Kevin Livingston's e-mail address is klivingston@praguepost.com




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