Though it is District law that cars must stop for pedestrians in every crosswalk, let’s be honest — very few actually do so. When I choose to walk to work, I’m often left to navigate the harrowing crosswalk at Connecticut Avenue and Wyoming Avenue NW, where even a sign reminding drivers of their responsibility to stop is regularly (and at high-speed) ignored.

Council member Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) is hoping to change that. Cheh’s office has announced that tomorrow she will introduce legislation that would mandate a ten-fold increase in fines for failing to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks. The legislation would also include installing better signage at District crosswalks stating that pedestrians have the right of way and listing the potential fine, which would be $500.

This is a good initiative to be sure, as the number of pedestrian deaths this year has already reached 25, which is up from 17 total last year. But as with other such laws — like the ban on cell phone use in cars — it will depend on effective police enforcement. More importantly, it will require additional traffic-calming measures, especially on busy roads with crosswalks. As one ANC Commissioner in Ward 1 once remarked to me, “You are asking that drivers engage in a quantum shift in their attitudes towards pedestrians and bicyclists…no small task.”

Photo by southernyankee_smiles