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Study Shows 5pm to 8pm Highest
Risk of Being Run Over
A study by the Escuela de
Ingeniería Civil de la
Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR)
has determined that the period
with the double the risk of
being run over by a vehicle is
between 5pm and 8pm on any given
day of the year. That time
period beats late and middle of
the nights when there are more
traffic accidents due to drunk
drivers and excessive speeding.
The study shows also revealed
that the risk of being hit by a
vehicle is also great in the
early morning hours, when
theoretically the streets are
bare.
The statement was made by the
expert, Rosendo Pujo Mesalles,
director of Produs-UCR, during a
show of the Congreso
Internacional de Transporte y
Desarrollo Urbano, organized by
the Asociación de Ingeniería del
Transporte.
According to figures of the
Ministerio de Obras Públicas y
Transportes (MOPT), 22
pedestrians have died this year
due to their own carelessness,
while another 22 died on the
roads due to excessive speeding.
Germán Marín, director of the
Policía de Tránsito (traffic
police), said that pedestrians
don't use caution when crossing
the street, especially on the
highways. Marín added that many
pedestrians do not cross at the
corner, as they should, or use
the pedestrian overpasses,
preferring to cross a busy
street and many times dash out
in front of cars.
Marín also said that pedestrians
don't respect traffic light
signals or use caution when
stepping off a bus. The
director's remarks can be
confirmed by the number of
hearts at or near bus stops.
The MOPT began to paint hearts
with a halo on spots where
pedestrians have died as a
result of being hit by a
vehicle.
Marín added that the danger
multiplies in areas where there
are no sidewalks, like rural
areas and the highways and that
pedestrians don't walk facing
traffic, as it is recommended.
Figures show that since 2000
there have been 442 pedestrians
and 141 cyclists.
The transit director said that
in the majority of the cases the
pedestrian or cyclist were
responsible for the accident.
Mesalles recommends to drivers
to turn on their headlights at
5pm allowing pedestrians to
better see the vehicle. And for
pedestrians to use extra caution
when crossing or walking along
side of the streets and to use
reflective or bright clothing at
night.
The use of pedestrian overpasses
is very important and the reason
for the MOPT to spend millions
of colones in building a series
of new overpasses on the major
highways like the General Cañas
- two bridges by the Plaza
Cariari and Residencial Los
Arcos - and on the San José -
Santa Ana highway in front of
the CIMA hospital and Multiplaza.
Pedestrian bridges will also be
built on the San José - Cartago
highway.
However, something that the
study does not reveal nor does
director Marín touch on is the
disrespect of drivers towards
pedestrians. Costa Ricans and
visitors alike take life in
their hands when crossing the
street as drivers will not stop
and in some cases try to go
around a pedestrians rather than
give way.
Also, the poor planning of
highways can be blamed for many
accidents involving pedestrians.
Along the General Cañas - San
José - Alajulea route - every
day pedestrians dash across the
fast moving highway, playing
chicken with drivers in some
cases. The only overpasses built
at in front of Plaza Cariari,
Los Arcos and INA.
Pedestrians are forced to cross
the busiest highway in Costa
Rica for lack of alternative
ways to cross to the other side.
The lack of an alternative to
cross and the lack of police
action allows the deadly game to
continue on a daily basis.
The same occurs on the San José
- Santa Ana in front of the CIMA
hospital and Multiplaza
especially, where the bus stops
letting passengers off.
A short distance to the west at
the Guachipelin crossing, the
same occurs. Pedestrians prefer
to cross the highway, at a point
where the road dips and
visibility is poor, than use the
underpass 50 metres away,
and make the mad dash on a where
drivers normally exceed the
speed limit.
Don't let a heart be placed
where you stood to cross
traffic.
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