Counting down to safety
COUNTDOWN timers are being rolled out at the Gold Coast’s busy pedestrian crossings to stop jaywalking and save lives – and it’s costing ratepayers $10,000 for every flashing warning sign.
Despite the high cost of safety, a trial of the 30-second countdown signs that tell pedestrians how many seconds remain before the walk sign turns red has revealed that at crossings in Southport and Broadbeach, up to 26 per cent of pedestrians ignore the warnings and step out against the traffic anyway.
Statistics show the Gold Coast has some jaywalking hotspots, where running against the lights across some of the Glitter Strip’s busiest intersections is taking a toll.
Webcrash data reveals 69 pedestrian incidents on the Gold Coast between July 2017 and April this year resulted in three fatalities, 45 people requiring hospital treatment and 17 receiving medical help after sustaining injuries.
New research shows that on the one hand many Gold Coasters do the right thing at pedestrian lights, with a survey of behaviour showing 87 per cent of pedestrians were making “an informed and safe decision”. This compared well with statewide data, which showed 84 per cent compliance.
But the survey also showed that on the other hand, some intersections at Broadbeach and Southport had become horror crossings.
Trials of the timers have been conducted in Surfers Paradise at two crossings – on the Gold Coast Hwy near Appel Park, and on The Esplanade – and at Southport (Gold Coast Hwy and Nerang St Mall), Broadbeach (Old Burleigh Rd), and Robina (Robina Town Centre Dve).
A survey of the crossings found 26 per cent of pedestrians were ignoring the timed signal and crossing against the lights at Broadbeach, and 21 per cent at the Southport crossing. Sixteen per cent ignored the warnings at Robina, 15 per cent took a chance on the Appel Park crossing in Surfers but just 9 per cent did the wrong thing on The Esplanade crossing.
Timed crossings are a feature in many major cities around the world.
The council is moving quickly by rolling out pedestrian countdown timers to warn fit pedestrians how many seconds they have left to make a crossing and to give older residents time to turn back to the safety of the footpath.
Council transport and infrastructure committee chair Pauline Young told the Bulletin: “It’s all about safety. Our city is growing at such a fast rate. It’s not just for residents but tourists. We have to be on the front foot.”
More than 13,000 pedestrian movements were monitored in the trials and the results mirrored anecdotal evidence from councillors about safety hot spots.
Cr Young said councillors had been quick to nominate intersection trouble spots across the city. Elected representatives at next Tuesday’s full council meeting are likely to back a recommendation that the countdown timers be introduced at another 10 locations at a cost of $100,000.
“Once we’re through full council (with the recommendations passed), other councillors can put their hands up and say let’s investigate these areas here,” Cr Young said.