this is true. I cross Orange/Bradley every day. some drivers do stop. but most do not stop. quite some do speed up, press horn, and completely ignore the pedestrians. this does not just happy on a daily basis. it happens almost every minute. If you do not believe, go there and watch. New Haven needs money? why not ticket these aggressive drivers! can the Mayer or chief do something?

I have noticed the same reaction when crossing, but I have also had people stop when they thought I was going to cross. You cannot expect a traffic cop at each crosswalk. What are you expecting a district manager to do? You must be patient and careful because they, the drivers, are not. They need to be educated and that takes time.

Hi,
This sounds really stressful. What do you propose as a resolution?

There's a simple solution: The police should write some tickets. Obviously they can't police every crosswalk, but if drivers knew there was a possibility of getting ticketed they would have a much stronger incentive to yield. I've been living in and walking around New Haven for six years and never once seen a policeman (or woman) monitoring a crosswalk or writing a ticket at one.

I also almost got hit twice in just last week. one time, when I just tried to cross, a SUV which was just made the turn from the ramp of I-91 to Orange St, towards Bradley, started to horn me even far away from the crosswalk sign (60 yards?) and I assumed he wanted me to give the way to his car, at the same time speeding up with cell phone near his ear.
another time, a driver in a minivan did the same talking over the cell phone speeding up while I was in the middle of the cross walk.
what do we expect from the police department? exactly - randomly assign a policeman to write some tickets. furthermore, it is a good revenue for the city.

Where is our Beat Cop? Does this not fit his/her job description? Are they out there yet? I have not seen any?

This happens to us on the way to school with our children pretty much every week. Some drivers actually act worse when there is a "Yield to Pedestrians" sign in the road - they act as if the sign were a traffic island and speed up to get through the far lane while you are still in the near lane.

Two weeks ago I was crossing S. Frontage at College, with two children aged 1 and 3, pushing one in a stroller and carrying the other. We were in a marked crosswalk with the pedestrian signal giving us the go-ahead to cross. A driver wanted to turn right on red (despite a "no turn on red" sign), but couldn't, because a bus was in the way, and so stopped in the crosswalk instead, blocking our way. Not only did the driver refuse to back up to let us cross; she actually wound down her window and gave me a little lecture about putting my children's lives in danger. It blew my mind. I took her licence but did not know what to do with it; my sense is that without video nobody would take the complaint seriously.

What to do? I agree that occasional random police enforcement would be a start.

As an aside, can police on construction site duty be expected to keep an eye on traffic enforcement also? My experience in New Haven is that they tend to interpret their duties pretty narrowly.

Policemen by the dozens rather collect overtime pay reading their phone at road construction sites than worrying about the safety at crosswalks. Let's break the stupid and selfish unions ....

That's terrible!. Maybe some more/better signage? Or a longer light? I would have given the plate # to the police. I hope the city doesn't wait till someone is killed!

I also crossed the Orange/Bradley, which is the worst even than Frontage. this morning another car tried to beat me while I was trying to cross. in the last second, I have to give up my way.
the city police at least can do some random monitoring once a while. not sure where all my $10,000 property tax go each year.

This happens to us on the way to school with our children pretty much every week. Some drivers actually act worse when there is a "Yield to Pedestrians" sign in the road - they act as if the sign were a traffic island and speed up to get through the far lane while you are still in the near lane.

Two weeks ago I was crossing S. Frontage at College, with two children aged 1 and 3, pushing one in a stroller and carrying the other. We were in a marked crosswalk with the pedestrian signal giving us the go-ahead to cross. A driver wanted to turn right on red (despite a "no turn on red" sign), but couldn't, because a bus was in the way, and so stopped in the crosswalk instead, blocking our way. Not only did the driver refuse to back up to let us cross; she actually wound down her window and gave me a little lecture about putting my children's lives in danger. It blew my mind. I took her licence but did not know what to do with it; my sense is that without video nobody would take the complaint seriously.

What to do? I agree that occasional random police enforcement would be a start.

As an aside, can police on construction site duty be expected to keep an eye on traffic enforcement also? My experience in New Haven is that they tend to interpret their duties pretty narrowly.

Joe wrote

Policemen by the dozens rather collect overtime pay reading their phone at road construction sites than worrying about the safety at crosswalks. Let's break the stupid and selfish unions ....

This issue was recategorized from Pedestrian Signal to Policing Issue.

Obviously the police do not care and the city doesn't consider ticketing a viable way to make money, because all if what the comments here said a year ago is still happening today.

Due to the age of this post, it will be closed. NHPD is now monitoring these posts, but they need to be able to distinguish information that is current. If this issue is a continuing problem, please report as a new post in this category to clearly identify it as a current problem. You can reference this post, which will stay archived on the website accessible to NHPD District Managers. Any immediate public safety issue should be called into 9-1-1, however.

You can also contact the NHPD District Manager directly. To determine who to contact, follow this link: http://www.cityofnewhaven.com/Police/index.asp and click on the Patrol Bureau - Community Policing tab. Thank you.