Looking at the streets at night people will see that some roads around populated areas around Panama City are darker than other locations. When it comes to these areas people can’t be seen as easily and are at risk of being hit by a vehicle. This may be due to it being too dark in the evening or the person may be wearing dark clothing at night and are not easily seen due to this. This is also the same with cyclists who may not be able to be seen at night. There are ways to combat this with cyclists because there are taillights for the back of a bicycle to help cars see them in the night. However, I don’t think this is enough and more should be added to keep people safe. 

Adding a crosswalk section in high foot traffic areas would help people stay safe. This would be all people on the roads, and all would be able to benefit from having these crosswalks. I notice on campus we could use these as students cross the roads to get to parking across the street. Having the extra lights in order to keep students safe would be great. There is decent lighting around the campus parking area but the closer you get to crossing the street close to the beach parking it gets darker. Being able to light up that area when crossing would make sure they are seen when crossing. 

     The need for lighting however extends farther than just the campus. There are many locations around Panama City that could use this lighting that have higher traffic. This could be around 23rd street due to people walking this area often. This is due to the many stores along this road and the hospital that is on this road. Due to this road having high vehicle traffic and foot traffic I would think having these light up crosswalks would help prevent issues with not being able to see people crossing.

Distracted driving

     The bright flashing lights from the crosswalk would make divers pay attention to it and not something else. Distracted driving can be very dangerous as this can cause accidents that can be fatal. Distracted driving is when you’re doing something that is taking your focus away from the road. This can be something as glancing at your phone, talking on a phone, looking at a passenger to speak to them or even eating while driving. Activities that take your attention away from the road can be very dangerous. Drivers sadly have a habit of getting distracted and according to an article from 2020 the estimated number for distracted driving claimed 3,142 lives. Sadly, this is something that does happen more often than it should. With the lights from the crosswalk, it will gain drivers attention and hopefully make them stop at the crosswalk to let people pass. These lights should be up long enough for the person needing to cross to be able to walk through in time before the lights go off which would allow traffic to continue as normal.

Cites:

ELTEC’s Pedestrian Activated Flashing Light | ELTEC (elteccorp.com)

Overhead Lighting for Crosswalks | Pedestrian Illumination | Carmanah

 

Images:

black and white pedestrian sign photo – Free Image on Unsplash

Kenyanna Gainer

Student Writer - Fall 2022