Letter: Raised crosswalks are not a good idea

I don’t believe a raised crosswalk is a good idea. A speeding driver who cannot or does not want to see a pedestrian crossing the street, particularly between dawn and dusk, is not likely to stop for a raised crosswalk. In fact, the driver could lose control of the car once hitting the crosswalk and cause more deaths, injuries and damage.

A better solution is to have strobe lights outlining the edges of the crosswalk, much like airport runways. Installed sensors to detect a pedestrian should turn on the strobe lights and when no pedestrian is detected, turn off the lights. The red lights for the oncoming traffic also could have another light or icon indicating that a pedestrian is crossing.

The best solution is to keep bad drivers off the roads.

Courts are much too lenient, allowing bad drivers back behind the wheel or charging chump change for traffic violations. Police often look away while drivers make their own rules by speeding, running reds or making illegal U-turns. All these judges and police officers who don’t do their jobs are complicit to these killings.

Carol Ching

Ala Moana

>> Contact: 529-4831 (phone), 529-4750 (fax), letters@staradvertiser.com, staradvertiser.com/editorial/submit-letter Opens in a new tab