SEA_P5

What the heck was this city thinking!!!

SHORELINE - People driving around the city of Shoreline for the past three weeks have seen additional reminders near schools and crosswalks. The yellow and black signs carry messages like "Stop for Pedestrians. It's the Law" and "Drive Slowly, Children at Play."

The signs were designed by David Townsend. His 11 year old daughter Tia was hit and killed in a crosswalk last March 28th. It's a crosswalk ranked as one of the most dangerous in King County.

Townsend said of his daughter: "The only way I can really describe her is that was life revolved around her and the sun set and the sun rose with my daughter."

He thought a fitting memorial would be safer crosswalks. After a six month, unsuccessful campaign for a stop light where his daughter died, Townsend and his friends put up one of the cautionary signs next to a pedestrian crossing sign. Then they started appearing all over the Shoreline area.

Monday, Townsend got a call from a city worker: "The city is saying the signs have to come down, they are a distraction. A distraction to what, I don't know, they are clearly stating stop for pedestrians."

The city manager Steve Burkett told KOMO 4 news there are national regulations for traffic warning signs, rules that must be followed from coast to coast. He added: "We have ignored it for a few weeks, hoping they'd come down. But just today we sent a letter to the folks letting them know they have to take the signs down and if they don't within a week the city will."

Burkett added he too is concerned about pedestrian safety and told KOMO 4 News, one of the reasons the city left the signs up for three weeks was the potential education of drivers to crosswalk safety.

Sir Nuke

for starters, IF I WERE HIM I wouldn't take a single one down....I would let the city do it....

and SECOND...IF the city manager was truely concerned...and KNOWS these rules and regs for the signs....he would take the steps necessary to have REGULATION signs made and posted to take place of the home made ones....

islandpro

ahhh thats western washington for ya. lol you should read the whidbey island record one of these times...lol. the police calls are the best. i remember one where i called in and said that someone broke into his house. and shaved his hamster. lol that made me laugh for weeks after.

Sir Nuke

OMG....a rouge hampster shaver? LOL LOL TOO FUNNY!!!

UCSBgeek

I read somewhere on my county's traffic website that frivoulous signs like "SLOW CHILDREN AT PLAY" are now discouraged because (most) people already driving through a residental expect those kinds of conditions, and it might encourage them to just ignore those yellow signs. Also, it said that excessively low speed limits will just cause people to break the law and start ignoring speed signs.

I really am truely sorry for this man's loss though, I wouldn't wish that upon anyone.

Hawkeye

poor guy.

SEA_P5

You are pretty much correct on that part, individuals will usually start ignoring the signs...similar to the deer crossing signs that are put up in the woods in our area.

But still...this individual lobbied to the local city to put up some sort of flashing crosswalk sign, due to the crosswalk being used by many children in that area. They currently promised him for several weeks, I think that he just got tired of the bureacracy and made some makeshift ones. This is not the first time that children were hit on crosswalks, waiting for the school bus on the side of the road, or playing in their front yard. Once those drivers are diverted by something else (cell phone, stereo, day dreaming) their car somehow steers right into people. Recently a Grandmother and grandchild was walking on the sidewalk and was hit by a driver talking on the cell phone. The vehicle literally swerved right onto the sidwalk bowling over the grandmother into someones lawn....hello...why are you going that fast to be able to skip a six inch high sidewalk right into someone in the middle of a city block.

Sometimes I wonder if those individuals should be stamped in the head with a hot iron that states "I just killed someone while talking on the cell phone (or what ever they were doing before the accident)"

Just my personal rant...I just hate seeing kids getting hurt for someone elses mistakes.

stealthscotty

I think that this fellow and those like him should go take down their signs.......and put them on portable stands. The city will have a real hard time keeping up with signs that are always being moved around. I have to put up with hundreds of campaign signs and all those annoying home builder signs pointing to the newest homes under construction. What's wrong with a few mobile safety messages?!

SEA_P5

stealthscotty

Surprised we don't see more of those!