No, you don’t get points for hitting pedestrians

It's one thing to not pay attention to the news. It's another to not pay attention on the road.

But I was blown away Monday by one of the most unsettling displays of disregard for pedestrian safety that I've ever seen -- and that's saying something in Las Vegas.

As anyone who reads a newspaper or watches TV knows, pedestrian safety has been one of bigger local stories of the past two months. At least a half-dozen pedestrians have been killed since October. The valley is closing in on 30 such deaths this year.

These accidents were more newsworthy than usual because three of them involved children, including a Las Vegas middle school student killed by a drunken driving suspect while trick-or-treating on Halloween and 6-year-old who was run over in a North Las Vegas crosswalk with two friends.

Police have been pushing a balanced message ever since: both pedestrians and motorists need to be alert and patient. Drivers need to slow down, and pedestrians need to use crosswalks and keep in mind that a vehicle might not stop for them.

Because of these developments, I've been especially mindful of pedestrians when driving. Which is why I took notice of a man trying to cross Town Center Drive last week.

I was waiting at a stop sign at Town Center, a block south of Charleston Boulevard. The man was standing in the crosswalk median, having just crossed three lanes of northbound traffic, waiting for cars to clear before he walked across the three southbound lanes.

I was about to make my turn away from the crosswalk when I noticed why he had waited for so long in the median. As soon as he took his first step, it was clear the man, probably in his late 50s or early 60s, was severely disabled. One of his arms was tucked against his torso, and he could barely lift one foot off the ground. His shuffle was painfully slow.

I immediately guessed it might take him a full minute, maybe longer, to get across those three lanes.

And because of that, I immediately feared I might witness another pedestrian fatality.

Sure enough, southbound traffic started to clear Charleston and speed toward the crosswalk. The man still hadn't made it across the first travel lane.

The lead vehicles noticed the man and began to slow down. They stopped well before the crosswalk. Other cars pulled up behind them.

I watched the drivers' expressions and gestures. The pedestrian was just about to enter the second lane. A couple of drivers were visibly frustrated. They knew they were going to be stuck for a while -- at least, if they intended to adhere to the law and wait for the man to clear the crosswalk before proceeding.

But there's always one driver. And in this town, it only takes one.

The lead motorist in the left travel lane decided he couldn't wait any longer. So he hit the accelerator. Hey, the disabled man wasn't in his lane anymore, right? The car whizzed past the disabled man as his small strides brought him into the middle lane. Another vehicle followed.

The man had just reached the third lane when vehicles in the center lane decided they needed to be on their way, as well. Good lord, what if the man fell over backward? At this point, the pedestrian's head turned to check out traffic and see if he was about to be hit.

The drivers stuck in the right travel lane, who had waited the longest, weren't about stick around and see if the man made it safely across. They swerved to their left to get around him.

Every single car in that traffic pack had driven through the crosswalk while the man was still in it.

Thankfully, the man made it across Town Center, but he wasn't happy about what he had just seen. And neither was I. I don't know how many times I've had a car speed just a couple of feet behind me before I've exited a crosswalk.

"I think drivers have been desensitized to pedestrians," said Las Vegas police spokesman Bill Cassell. "There will never be a time when we can't stress pedestrian safety too much."

Believe me, I know how easy it is for drivers to simply not see pedestrians. Especially at large intersections or four-way stop signs at busy, converging six-lane roads, you're so focused watching signals and other vehicles that you can forget to check that the crosswalks are clear before turns.

But a man using a crosswalk in broad daylight, and stopped drivers making the decision to go anyway? What are those drivers thinking?

Probably two things. First, as one driver told North Las Vegas police while being cited in a crosswalk sting: "I saw them. I wasn't going to hit them." Second, everyone had lots of time to make sure no police were around. How many people make that calculation every day while speeding in residential areas and blowing through stop signs?

The driving culture in this city is terrible. And it's pretty clear that no number of pedestrian deaths is going to change that. Unless the valley undertakes a major initiative like more signage and lights or the installation of flag baskets, such as those used in Salt Lake City, it's going to be up to police to change that culture -- one ticket at a time.

Glenn Cook (gcook@reviewjournal.com) is a Review-Journal editorial writer.