Great new crosswalk "enhancer"

[ac316scu 31]

When I was down in Florida a few weeks ago I saw this really neat device at some of the crosswalks. Uses whelen led's to alert traffic when somebody is crossing and it has already been approved by the federal highway administration for nationwide use. everybody should check out the website, heres the link Stop Experts Inc.

[FiftyOnePride 100]

SUNY Albany employs a similar technology, they also added what I think are LED's into the roadway itself outlining the crosswalks. Day or night if someone steps into the sensors path, the lights in the roadway and the ones outlining the signs light right up. Very bright even during the daytime.

Edited February 11, 2009 by FiftyOnePride

[JohnnyOV 2]

When I was down in Florida a few weeks ago I saw this really neat device at some of the crosswalks. Uses whelen led's to alert traffic when somebody is crossing and it has already been approved by the federal highway administration for nationwide use. everybody should check out the website, heres the link Stop Experts Inc.

As great as a safety device this is, the only problem I see with it is the same thing the "Sawstop" ( http://www.sawstop.com/ ) encountered. The device was so safe, that once employees started reporting injuries to OSHA and workers comp after the device came out, the question rose in court that, "Why hasn't your employer upgraded to this newer, safer device?" And almost every time, it was because the employer could not afford to upgrade, and then when it was asked why couldn't they spend the extra 1000 or so for the saw, instead of the extra 10,000-50,000 in medical bills, and they couldn't come up with a reasonable answer, they were sued for gross negligence (i dont have the exact citations for this, but my degree for school is for this exact area, and its factual.

Now when someone gets hit by a car in a cross walk because a car did not stop, its possible now that they could turn to the jurisdiction responsible for that intersection / crosswalk and say "Ok, this great warning device, that has been approved by the federal government, was not installed at this intersection. Why not? Because it was too expensive? How much is the cost of someones life?"

From the legal standpoint, i just see huge lawsuits coming from this, if its not dealt with appropriately

Edited February 11, 2009 by EMSJunkie712

[ac316scu 31]

i don't think that towns will get sued for not having one of these. if anything the person who is injured is gonna sue the person who hit them

[dadbo46 50]

i don't think that towns will get sued for not having one of these. if anything the person who is injured is gonna sue the person who hit them

EVERYONE will get sued !!!

[ny10570 745]

How about we hold people responsible for the most base animal reflex. Self preservation. Before crossing the street, look both ways at ALL crossings since drivers don't always go with the flow of traffic. Once you've begun to cross keep on looking because cars may continue to move. We were all taught this very clearly as children. Look left, look right, look left again. Cross on the green, not in between. Don't cross mid-block, only at the corners. Its embarrassing that we have to spend so much time and money on protecting stupid.

Personally I cross where ever I happen to be, no matter what the light says, but that's because I'm watching the cars and I'm going to move my rear when I have to to maintain my ability to live. If you step blindly into a crosswalk because some light with cute little stick figure says you can you deserve what ever comes your way. Step out between parked cars and get popped by a bus, its not the bus drivers fault. Didn't hear the fire truck/police car/ambulance because you were rocking out to your ipod, then I hope you really enjoyed that last song.