Jaywalking a risk for pedestrians, motorist

National, Normal
Source:

The National, Thursday February 6th, 2014

 POLICE say jaywalking poses a risk to pedestrians and motorists alike and one way to solve it is by building overhead bridges on busy roads.

Jaywalking is a common sight on busy roads in the country when people cross illegally without paying any attention to traffic.

Officer-in-charge of the police national road safety unit Chief Sergeant James Leoleo said it was dangerous for pedestrians and drivers.

A typical four-lane motorway in Port Moresby has only a few crossings and with the increasing number of pedestrians and vehicles, it poses a high risk of accidents.

“We need proper crossings and in the right places as it will cause inconvenience to drivers if they are placed at traffic lights or roundabouts,” he said.

He said one of the best options on highways in Port Moresby was overhead bridges such as the one in Boroko.

He has written to the National Capital District Engineering Department to consider building more such bridges.

“We know most people do not use that bridge at Boroko so we sometimes carry out awareness at the bus stops to encourage it,” he said.

Leoleo said they had extended their awareness programmes on radio and conducted school visits in the hope that children would obey road safety rules.

“There is no law on how pedestrians use roads so we cannot charge people. We just have to educate them,” he said.

He said motorists too fail to follow simple road rules to allow pedestrians to safely cross roads. An example is stopping behind the first white line.