After wheelchair user is hit for third time in crosswalk, NY DOT addresses its danger

From The Post Star:

QUEENSBURY, N.Y. -- Charles Thomas (pictured) got mad and took action after he got hit by a car last fall in the crosswalk at the top of the Exit 19 off-ramp.

Because Thomas brought attention to the dangerous spot, the state Department of Transportation will be adding signs to the off-ramp in the next week or two, according to Peter Van Keuren, a department spokesman.

The Sept. 3, 2008, accident was the third time that Thomas, who uses a wheelchair, had been struck in that crosswalk. He was thrown out of his wheelchair onto the road, suffering a sprained spine, bruised hip and cut arm.

After he got home from the hospital, he wrote to Assemblywoman Teresa Sayward and, later, to Queensbury town Supervisor Dan Stec, who forwarded his letters to the DOT.

The department studied the intersection, looking at the signs and pavement markings, and observing the flow of traffic and interaction between cars and pedestrians at the top of the off-ramp.

The investigation concluded that "vehicles performing right turns on red often conflict with pedestrians in the crosswalk, even though pedestrians have the right of way."

The volume is "extremely heavy," however. So drivers have to be allowed to turn right on red or else traffic could back up down the off-ramp and onto the Northway, according to the DOT.

Department officials decided on a compromise - installation of a sign on the off-ramp that will flash "No Turn on Red" whenever someone has pushed the pedestrian button and activated the "walk" signal.

When the pedestrian button has not been pushed, drivers will still be able to turn right on red.

Thomas, 69, said he is gratified the state is acting to make the intersection safer.

"I didn't back off," he said. "I was worried about these kids and whatnot. Something had to be done."

School children sometimes use the crosswalk on their way to the Queensbury school complex, which lies just on the other side of the Northway overpass. And kids who live in John Burke Apartments, across from the school, also ride their bikes that way.

Thomas lives in the John Burke Apartments and uses the overpass to go back and forth to the Target store in Aviation Mall, where he buys groceries and other supplies.

He was hit in the crosswalk three times in three years, the first time by a pickup truck that almost ran him over. Thomas said he complained to the Warren County Sheriff's Office, but sheriff's deputies told him he had failed to yield the right of way.

Thomas says he always pushes the pedestrian button. Pedestrians crossing with the "walk" signal, in a crosswalk, have the right of way.

In studying the intersection, Department of Transportation investigators found that many drivers failed to come to complete stops, as required, when turning right on red. Some also failed to yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk, they found.

Department officials are alerting the State Police and the Warren County Sheriff's Office to the situation for "consideration of increased enforcement," according to the Department of Transportation letter.