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  • Pedestrians Get Lesson In Safety

    PEDESTRIANS GET LESSON IN SAFETY
    By Veronica Rocha

    Glendale News Press
    May 18 2009

    City of Glendale principal traffic engineer Wayne Ko shows a crosswalk
    signal to a group participating in a pedestrian safety training
    program Saturday. (Roger Wilson/News-Press)

    UC Berkeley traffic center conducts a field trip examining some
    Glendale intersections.

    Residents and community leaders walked the streets Saturday and
    examined local city intersections to determine whether they are safe
    for pedestrians.

    The stroll was a walkability assessment as part of the Community
    Pedestrian Safety Training seminar that the UC Berkeley Traffic Safety
    Center and California Walks put on for the city.

    Saturday's seminar was the first of 12 that the center will conduct
    this year, said Jill Cooper, the center's assistant director.

    The center selected Glendale for the training seminar due to its high
    number of pedestrian-related accidents and fatalities.

    Glendale's pedestrian safety problem is being noticed throughout the
    state, Assemblyman Paul Krekorian said during the seminar.

    "Enough is enough, and the time has come that we really have to fight
    against people bringing mayhem in our streets," he said.

    City and police officials have tried to combat the pedestrian safety
    problem by installing lighted crosswalks, adjusting speed limits
    and conducting pedestrian stings and helicopter patrols of Glenoaks
    Boulevard, said Councilman Ara Najarian, who initially asked the
    center to help the city.

    Pedestrians most at risk of being hit are seniors, disabled people
    and children, Najarian said.

    Lessons taught at the seminar, he said, will hopefully be used to
    create a pedestrian safety action plan as well as help residents learn
    how to be safe walking or riding bicycles and how to drive safely.

    "The bottom line here is saving our seniors, our children, our ethnic
    communities and some of the busiest adults," Najarian said.

    Glendale was also the first of 12 cities to get the seminar because
    of its "strong degree of community involvement," said Wendy Alfsen,
    California Walks' executive director.

    "Most communities get involved because of a galvanizing event,"
    she said.

    Alfsen asked those who attended the seminar to raise their arms if
    they knew a pedestrian who was killed by a motorist, and if they knew
    a pedestrian who was nearly hit by a motorist.

    Most people raised their arms.

    The length of a crosswalk, she said, can be problematic and lead
    to accidents.

    If a crosswalk is too long, pedestrians struggle crossing in time,
    and motorists can become impatient, Alfsen said.

    Last year, 84 pedestrian-related accidents and four fatalities occurred
    in the city, Glendale Police Lt. Carl Povilaitis said.

    "All of out fatalities last year were pedestrians," he said.

    In 2007, the California Office of Traffic Safety ranked Glendale as
    being third-worst among other cities with a population of 100,000 to
    250,000 in pedestrian-related accidents.

    The office also determined that Glendale was the worst in accidents
    that involved a pedestrian older than 65.

    Chris Garsevanian wrote down tips and statistics on a note pad during
    the seminar.

    Garsevanian, who is an Armenian Council of America board member,
    attended the seminar to take back information to seniors in the
    Armenian community.

    "[Seniors] think the youth of Glendale drive too fast in our
    community," he said.

    The statistics provided in the seminar, Garsevanian said, illustrate
    the pedestrian safety problem in the community.

    Parent Kara Sergile went to the seminar in order to share information
    with parents, staff and students at R.D. White Elementary School.

    She and a group of parents and school staff members recently started
    a committee to address traffic safety concerns in an effort to avoid
    tragic accidents.

    "It is very scary as a parent when we are sending our children out
    into the community," Sergile said.
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