The BDN Editorial Board operates independently from the newsroom, and does not set policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com.
Last year there were a record number of pedestrian deaths in Maine, and multiple incidents this month once again underscored what has been a tragic but ultimately avoidable trend. These events should be wake up calls for everyone using Maine roads, and for the officials in charge of building and maintaining the state’s road infrastructure.
Three people died in two different incidents on Aug. 2. A grandfather and grandson were hit and killed in a yard in Sanford when a person driving an SUV veered off the road. A woman in Saco was struck and killed by a dump truck that same day.
“We are deeply saddened by these two tragic incidents. We send our deepest condolences to the [victims’] loved ones,” Bicycle Coalition of Maine Executive Director Jean Sideris said in a statement at the time. “Three fatalities in one day is an appalling reminder of the dangers that plague Maine’s roads.”
Over the weekend, four Maine state troopers were struck and injured while standing near a driveway in Hollis as they were responding to a family dispute. According to TV station WGME, the driver has been charged with aggravated operating under the influence, aggravated driving to endanger and reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon.
These incidents and pedestrian deaths should not be inevitable. Both people and public policy can help prevent them and improve safety for everyone sharing the roads.
We wish we didn’t have to keep saying it, but we will: Be careful out there. Each and every driver on the road has an opportunity and responsibility to help keep themselves and others safe. So slow down. Pay attention. Put your phone down. Stop for pedestrians. Stop for school buses.
Caution, awareness and personal responsibility can go a long way in helping to prevent a normal commute from turning into a life-altering tragedy. Wherever you’re driving or whatever else you might be focusing on, it’s probably not more important than keeping yourself and others alive.
The awareness and caution of individual drivers isn’t the only consideration when trying to address this issue, however. It can’t be. State and local officials also need to be taking a close look at road infrastructure to make sure traffic, pedestrians, cyclists and communities generally are able to share the road safely. That means visible crosswalks, it means sidewalks and bike lanes, it means appropriate speed limits.
When state lawmakers return for the second session of the 131st Legislature, there is at least one bill that can help them continue this conversation. LD 527, “An Act to Allow Municipalities to Create Bicycle and Pedestrian Zones with Reduced Speed Limits” was carried over from the first session.
“This bill will empower municipalities to create a more sustainable transportation system in designated walkable and bikeable zones within their communities. It would remove an unneeded barrier to creating reduced speed zones by eliminating the requirement for expensive, time consuming, and potentially counterproductive speed studies,” a representative for the Maine Association of Planners testified. “Research shows that crashes with vulnerable road users — bicyclists and pedestrians — at speeds above 25 miles per hour are far more likely to result in fatal injuries than are slower speed crashes. Unsafe motorist behavior is a major reason people don’t walk or bike to destinations, even ones that are close by, in their communities.”
The bill may need some adjustments, but better empowering local communities to make decisions and take action when it comes to road safety sounds like a good idea to us. Because while caution from drivers is absolutely necessary to help avoid crashes and deaths, planning and policy have an important role in this conversation as well.
