PITTSBORO — The Pittsboro Police Department and town engineers are working to address one of downtown’s main intersections after a series of vehicular collisions with pedestrians.
Police Chief Shorty Johnson said NCDOT was called in by town engineers in November to investigate where Hillsboro and Salisbury streets intersect. There have been three separate incidents involving people crossing the street since October of last year at that exact intersection, according to Johnson.
The first, on Oct. 20, involved a pedestrian on a mobility scooter heading east across Hillsboro Street. A car turning left from Salisbury onto Hillsboro collided with the pedestrian, knocking the rider into the street. The victim wasn’t injured.
The second and third incidents occured within the crosswalk on East Salisbury and involved vehicles turning right from Hillsboro. Neither of the incidents — one on Nov. 16, the other Jan. 12 — resulted in major injuries.
NCDOT engineers came to Pittsboro in November and suggested increasing the window of time pedestrians have to start crossing the street.
“They did a study where DOT looked at the Leading Pedestrian Interval, or the LPI,” Johnson said.
According to studies done by the U.S. Dept. of Transportation, LPIs are “low-cost adjustments to signal timing to increase pedestrian safety at signalized intersections.” This is done by providing a time buffer between when the crosswalk signal indicates pedestrians can cross and the traffic light turning green for oncoming traffic.
Some benefits from LPIs include increasing the likelihood of drivers yielding, enhancing safety for slower-moving pedestrians, as well adding right turn on red restrictions, accessible pedestrian signals and more.
Johnson said in Pittsboro, the LPI buffer used to be three seconds before NCDOT changed it to be three and a half seconds. Since the third accident in January, however, the police department is looking to see what more can be done at the intersection to make it safer for pedestrians.
“We’ve had officers that will go up, and they watch the intersection,” Johnson said. “We also looked at some of the environmental issues.”
One of the potential environmental issues around the intersection Johnson mentioned involves parking spots and trees along Hillsboro Street that reduce visibility. Johnson said concerns arose that the trees could block drivers’ field of vision when driving. He also was concerned that a car parked in the closest spot to the intersection could also create a blind spot for other drivers, but the department ruled that out after a study of the incident reports.
“I know during two of those [accidents], there were no cars parked there, so you can’t blame the parking spot,” Johnson said.
So what’s causing the accidents?
Johnson believes it’s simple: the fault falls on inattentive drivers.
“We’re looking to do some educational programs to try to inform the community and tell the community that when you turn, it is not always clear,” he said. “You need to be paying attention because there could be somebody in that crosswalk.”
Pedestrians have the right of way if they’re crossing streets via crosswalks in North Carolina, according to Johnson. But he said pedestrians still need to be mindful when walking across Salisbury or Hillsboro streets.
“Pedestrians do have the right of way in the crosswalk, but we always need to be watching as we are walking because unfortunately, people don’t pay attention and that’s what caused these accidents,” he said.
N.C. General Statute 20-173(a) states “where traffic-control signals are not in place or in operation the driver of a vehicle shall yield the right-of-way, slowing down or stopping if need be to so yield, to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within any marked crosswalk or within any unmarked crosswalk at or near an intersection, except as otherwise provided” — meaning drivers do not have to yield to pedestrians unless they are in the middle of a marked or unmarked or unmarked crosswalk.
But Johnson said drivers should be more courteous of people trying to walk across downtown and yield to those waiting to be able to safely go across the street.
“We get several calls about cars not stopping for pedestrians while the pedestrian is waiting to cross the street at our marked crosswalks or near intersections,” he said. “A vehicle does not have to stop, yield or slow down for a pedestrian unless the pedestrian is actually inside a marked or unmarked crosswalk. However, I do think more drivers should be more courteous and allow pedestrians to cross the street if they see someone waiting to cross. It’s just being nice.”
Johnson said after the January incident, he and town staff are considering consulting with NCDOT again. State engineers may recommend include additional signage around the intersection, increased LPI timeframes, or other changes, he said.
He hopes to be able to have some kind of resolution for the intersection before the weather warms and the foot traffic increases.
“Right now, with the weather, there are not as many people walking, but with springtime coming and summer, we just want to make sure there is not an issue at that intersection,” he said. “We’re trying to do what we can to make it safer.”
Reporter Taylor Heeden can be reached at theeden@chathamnr.com.