Every day 20 pedestrians die in the streets of America.
Is there a war? Is it heart disease? No. It is simply cars.
According to U.S. News and World Report, pedestrian deaths are up 77 percent in the U.S. since 2010.
In Rhinebeck, students must walk, bike or drive if they live less than a mile from school because they are not provided with a bus route. Many students prefer being driven, so there is a great deal of car traffic in the morning heading to school.
Some students don’t have the luxury of being driven, and they are forced to walk. Walking and biking is a great alternative to driving, but in Rhinebeck the streets near the school are not safe for pedestrians as we witnessed just last week.
On Wednesday morning, September 27, a student was biking to school collided with a car in the intersection of North Parsonage and South Parsonage. This incident brought the community’s attention to the problem of pedestrian and bike safety.
Community members had attended a meeting the day before, on Tuesday September 26, to discuss pedestrian safety in Rhinebeck. Three days later, students, parents, and community members gathered at the intersection where the accident happened to promote safe walking and biking routes to school.
When students walk up South Parsonage street, they are met with one of the most confusing intersections in our town.
Drivers on South Parsonage going north, have a stop sign before they either turn left or right. People on North Parsonage going South have a one way street but only between Market and South Street. It is often assumed by drivers on South Street that people on North Parsonage have a stop sign, when in reality they do not. It is very hard for drivers—especially young, newly-licensed ones— to navigate, especially with a swarm of children crossing there with no crosswalk.
Rhinebeck village Mayor Gary Bassett has not been neglecting this problem. Getting sidewalks and safer routes for school is very high on the priority list, but unfortunately the process is long and expensive. The village has applied for a couple of grants but did not receive them.
“Our goal for the roads is for them to be walkable, bikeable, and sustainable,” said Mayor Gary Bassett.
Mayor Bassett explained that they have applied for the TAP grant which opened up in early January and would help with the funding to make the streets safer, but they are still waiting on approval from the village board.
Even though adding new sidewalks and bike paths may be a longer process there are things that we the community can do to help protect the safety of our students.
Vanessa Bertozzi, Village Trustee and climate activist, is also working on making the streets safer for pedestrians.
“I want to invite parents to have their kids take the bus more to avoid the intersection overload,” Bertozzi said.
Bertozzi encouraged everyone to ride the bus as much as possible and report when the sidewalks or roads are icy and unsafe.
It’s not only the village officials who are concerned but also the students. Zoë Davey, a ninth grade student, walks to school every day year round.
“I think there should be more crosswalks and traffic lights,”said Davey.
Although they are addressing the issue, Mayor Gary Bassett described the campaign to improve pedestrian safety as “a long haul.”
