This is three year old data, but worth mentioning, “During 2017 in Vermont, there were 133 hospitalizations and emergency department visits related to pedestrian injuries involving motor vehicles.”

It goes without mentioning that Vermont gets pretty dark at night. Street lights are few and our crosswalks are not always visible to cars, trucks, and farm equipment that use the road running down the middle of our Center. Add to that our love for our dark hoodies and we have a recipe that could result in a tragic accident involving staff or students as we cross the road. The two crosswalks that cross from the Gym to the Chapel and from Dorm 18 to the Administration building have long been identified as safety zones that desperately need upgrades.

Enter the Lighted Pedestrian Crossing with their flashing strobes to alert a driver to the presence of a pedestrian in the crosswalk. These very cool strobes will have activation buttons in four locations for the pedestrian to simply touch before    entering the crosswalk.  Once activated you will have plenty of time to walk from one side of the road to the other. One of the interesting aspects of these lights is that they are solar powered and will create their own power from solar panels that are mounted on the poles.

Now for the alert: “You must continue to be mindful of traffic and not assume that with the lights flashing a car/truck IS going to automatically stop!” My advice… use the crosswalk and the lighted crossing lights but keep your eyes open!