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people in those communities depend on public transportation, but roads are often six lanes wide and are more convenient for cars than walkers.
Investigators said pedestrians have been at fault in most of the cases by failing to use crosswalks or walking against traffic signals. A couple of victims were wearing headsets when they were struck, police said.
Police Lt. James Hennessy said pedestrians often underestimate the speed of the cars and the density of traffic. Others are new immigrants who are unfamiliar with traffic signals and crosswalks.
"They don't understand how dangerous the situation is," Hennessy said. "I don't think anybody runs across the street wanting to get hurt. Most of the time, it's not someone who intends to break the law."
Sometimes, motorists have been at fault. In one of the most publicized cases, a 26-year-old man was waiting on a raised median in December on East West Highway west of 16th Street in Silver Spring when a car veered onto the median, hitting a sign and striking him, police said. Witnesses told police that the driver stopped only long enough to pick up several pieces that had broken off his car.
The victim, Rajiv Vaidya, was an aspiring writer and the only son of Vanitha and Shailendra Vaidya, of Philadelphia.
During this General Assembly session, the Vaidyas, both of whom are physicians, pushed for legislation that would make it a felony for a motorist causing bodily injury or death in a crash to leave the scene. Currently, it is a misdemeanor.
Despite their testimony and the backing of Duncan and Montgomery County Police Chief Charles A. Moose, a Senate committee killed the bill in a close vote. The Vaidyas and Montgomery delegates have vowed to try again. "We just felt it was so unconscionable to have such a meager penalty for such a stupendous loss of life," said Vanitha Vaidya, the victim's mother.
Still before the General Assembly earlier this week was a bill to establish a state fund for municipalities to start pedestrian safety campaigns. The funding would come from existing money in the Department of Transportation budgets, said Del. William A. Bronrott (D-Bethesda), one of the bill's sponsors. The proposal also includes plans to establish a task force on child pedestrian safety and to hire a bicycle-pedestrian coordinator for each district.
Another bill, sponsored by Sen. Walter M. Baker (D-Cecil), would further punish people guilty of aggressive driving by requiring the Motor Vehicle Administration to add five points to a person's driver's license record. Aggressive driving would include actions such as running a red light.
Calling for Change
On the county level, Duncan has announced several pedestrian-oriented budget recommendations for the fiscal year that begins in July:
Increase the number of red-light cameras from 10 to 25, rotating them among 35 intersections, and add an administrative aide for the program, at a cost of $780,000.
Hire a traffic analyst and two data-entry employees to work with police investigators to compile accident data and recommend pedestrian-safety improvements, at a cost of $76,000.
Continue a public awareness campaign, at a cost of $50,000.
The recommendations were made by a blue-ribbon panel on pedestrian and traffic safety that Duncan appointed last summer.
David Weaver, a spokesman for Duncan, said that despite anticipated shortfalls in the $2.7 billion budget and other needs this year, the county executive wants to allocate money to traffic safety because of the increase in fatal accidents.
"This is one of his top priorities," Weaver said. "We're troubled that folks don't seem to be getting the message that we've got a problem [with accidents]."
Montgomery delegates and County Council members also are asking Judge Martha Rasin, the chief judge of the Maryland District courts, to raise the fines for running a red light to $175 from $120. The fines would apply only to tickets written by a police officer. Motorists caught by a red-light camera would continue to pay $75.
Rasin said she was going to ask the administrative judges' committee to look into the matter at a summer meeting. The judges also will make a routine review of other traffic fines, she said.
Since October 1999, thousands of motorists have been ticketed by red-light cameras, which are rotated through problem intersections in the county. About 3,000 motorists are ticketed each month, a number that has held steady, said Lt. William "Skip" Lanham of the police special operations division.
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