Town committee favors law change

In the interest of public safety, a Town Council committee on Tuesday endorsed a resolution seeking to change Virginia state law regarding pedestrians and motorists.

Alexandria Mayor William Euille and Alexandria Councilman Rob Krupicka, along with other statewide organizations, recently embarked on an effort to change the law, which does not require motorists to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks - it requires them to yield.

The Culpeper Public Safety Committee is on board with the proposed amendment, in which motorists would be obligated, by law, to stop and not just yield for pedestrians in crosswalks.

Krupicka said Wednesday that his locality was prompted to undertake the law change initiative because of several recent pedestrian fatalities in Alexandria. While the proposed legislation won’t stop jaywalking, he said, it will transform “crosswalks into pedestrian safe havens.”

The crosswalk in front of the Culpeper Post Office on Main Street proved deadly for Alice Dodson, who was struck and killed at that location in November. But through the law change, Krupicka also hopes to make commercial and residential areas safer for all people on foot.

“Traffic in northern Virginia often makes neighborhoods risky places to walk with one’s family,” he said. “Our hope is to start to change that by giving neighborhood streets back to the people who live there.”

He recalled numerous occasions out walking with his young daughters and getting stuck in the middle of a crosswalk because cars would not stop to let them continue on to the sidewalk.

Krupicka added, “As a parent, I can’t tell you how scary it is to see a car drive past your child and not know if the car will stop, or if your child will try to run.”

As written today, the law leaves it up to the driver to decide how to deal with pedestrians in crosswalks, he said.

“They can stop, drive around them, or do something else to avoid the pedestrian,” Krupicka explained. “Right now, the safety of pedestrians is in the hands of the person with the most ability to do them harm.”

Culpeper Town Councilman Tom Huggard, who serves on the Public Safety Committee, said he endorses an across-the-board change to the law. For him, the move is natural.

“You’re supposed to yield to pedestrians,” said Huggard, who admitted some drivers don’t pay attention to the law.

He thinks Culpeper drivers are more courteous to pedestrians than those in bigger metropolitan areas. Though a warning light or pedestrian walk signs in front of the post office could help, said Huggard, he does not consider the recent site of the fatal accident “a dangerous corner.”

4:00:57 PM