Green, red, green, red. In the center of Breda you have to have considerable condition to cross the pedestrian crossing. Because the traffic light finally turns green after a long wait, then a sprint is needed to get across time. And that must change. “Certainly for the people who have difficulty walking. You only have ten to fourteen seconds and that is way too tight. “
With the stopwatch in hand, Peter Vissers is waiting for the Red Traffic Light at the crossing of the Vierwindenstraat intersection and the Wilhelminasingel. When the light turns green, it runs at a normal pace to the other side, but the last two meters it has to turn on a lot.
“After 12.88 seconds it already turned red and then I was not there yet,” he says looking at the stopwatch. “That is very fast and you just don’t save that. I saw a car that could work like that, so I just pulled a sprint.”
“You shouldn’t think that you have to do this with a walker or wheelchair.”
And so Peter Vissers and his local political party Breda certainly tested various intersections in his city. “With several routes and without strolling, we have determined experimentally that the crossing times for pedestrians are on the short side. Certainly if you also walk with a stick or are even more limited. You should not think that you do this with A walker or wheelchair has to do the other side then becomes dangerous. ”
The 92-year-old Rikki also notices that when she crosses her walker. “I can’t make it on time,” she says. “But that is so in more places here. Thanks to my walker, I still walk well, but I know that other people have more problems. Mothers with small children, for example. That is dangerous.”
“We should have run the last piece.”
Other pedestrians also question their questions. “Oh, we know we’ll never make it here,” says a middle -aged man. “That traffic light is far too short on green. It is best link because the cars that handle the corner drive immediately.”
Response Safe Traffic Netherlands
According to Veilig Verkeer Nederland, there is no legal regulation that states how long the traffic light must be on green. According to them, the crossing time is related to the width of the road.
The road manager (in this case the municipality) is responsible for adjusting the traffic lights, including the crossing time at the pedestrian crossings.
“I think that’s bad,” says Peter Vissers of Breda. “If you, as a city, focus on moving and vitality of your residents, then everyone must be able to cross safely if they make a detour. And you should not be hunted. A walk to and in the center must be relaxed.”
He understands where the short crossing time comes from. “I think there is more priority to the flow of car traffic, so that no traffic jams arise,” he explains.
“The crossing pedestrian can be given more priority in the center.”
With his party Breda, Vissers has therefore definitely asked for clarification from the college. “In our eyes, the municipality must see where they are the vegetable times can extend. Look how that can be done differently, because we still want everyone to stay mobile. Perhaps there may be certain detection on the traffic lights that see when in some cases the green light must be extended. Because otherwise it will continue to run for your life, yes. “