More than eight months ago, 16-year-old Sebastian Osman was killed at the crosswalk of 1300 East and 700 South. He was the third person in only five years to be hit at that very intersection, and the Utah Department of Transportation is just now putting in its new “safety feature:” a yellow, flashing light. To many, me included, this solution seems to translate into not enough accidents, and therefore not enough deaths, for a stoplight. Which then begs the question: What came first, the accident or the traffic light?
To be fair though, UDOT spokeswoman Bethany Eller says UDOT is also installing a median island. And? I thought. I’ve walked across that intersection, as I’m sure thousands of U students do daily. So this is a problem that concerns everyone-not just one family or one neighborhood. Eller told me that crash/accident history is just one of the criteria UDOT takes into consideration for a new stoplight.
“We have to look at the entire strip of 1300 East-things like traffic volume, pedestrian numbers and speed of cars are also part of the requirements.”
So, three accidents and one death, it appears, just aren’t enough. But what really cheesed me was that, after construction on the flashing light and median are completed, “UDOT will continue to watch and study the area. And if the safety features appear ineffective, (it) will consider other options.”
What does “appear ineffective” mean? Apparently, it means more injuries and more suffering.
However, not everyone is as convinced that a traffic light is the perfect solution. On KSL’s Community Comment Board, one civilian wrote: “Stop lights everywhere? It seems that if a stoplight were placed everywhere in the valley where there was an accident, death or other mishap, the valley would be a gridlock with stoplights just about everywhere.”
And it is a good point. Accidents happen, and some have no quick resolution. I mean, how do we even know that a stoplight would solve the problem? Eller said that sometimes adding a light can create other problems, like running a red light or more rear-end collisions.
But I would just add this: Getting killed is not a mishap. Getting a paper cut or losing your lunch money is a mishap. Death, especially if it is followed by two other accidents, is something else. And if deciding where intersections go is the fine art that it is made out to be, I have to wonder how many years of complaining and injuries go into making an intersection safe.
It seems an unfortunate reality that death and tragedy are the only ways to get results in our high-traffic, danger-zone life on the road. As students, and simply members of this community, we should pressure UDOT and Mayor Rocky Anderson to re-examine the “regulations” for traffic lights and other safety features. This should not just be the burden of one family or one neighborhood. We all use that intersection, and any one of us can be affected.