SEEKING SAFE WAY HOME; CROSSWALK HAS ELECTRIC EYE ON PACOIMA.Byline: Yvette Cabrera Staff Writer Hoping to put the brakes on speeding motorists and deadly crashes, state Sen. Richard Alarcon on Thursday dedicated a ``smart crosswalk'' at a Pacoima intersection where a mother of eight was killed. The smart crosswalk, only the fifth citywide, uses a state-of-the-art electronic sensor to detect pedestrians and then alerts motorists to slow down by activating flashing, yellow lights. ``It's important for the city to re-evaluate intersections where highly populated pop·u·late tr.v. pop·u·lat·ed, pop·u·lat·ing, pop·u·lates 1. To supply with inhabitants, as by colonization; people. 2. schools are located,'' said Alarcon, D-Van Nuys, who led the effort to create the city's first smart crosswalk at a North Hollywood intersection in 1998. Located at the corner of Norris Avenue and Van Nuys Boulevard near Pacoima Elementary School elementary school: see school. , the smart crosswalk is only activated activated a state of being more than usually active. In biological systems this is usually brought about by chemical or electrical means. Commonly said of pharmaceutical and chemical products. while a pedestrian A pedestrian is a person travelling on foot, whether walking or running. In modern times, the term mostly refers to someone walking on a road or footpath, but this was not the case historically. History Walking is the primary means of human locomotion. is in the crosswalk. The crosswalk is more effective because it's more likely to grab the attention of motorists - who often ignore lights that constantly flash - and at $70,000 it also costs half as much as a traffic signal, Alarcon said. Every day hundreds of students and parents cross the intersection and confront cars racing at excessive speeds on the four-lane street, said Pacoima Elementary School Principal Larry Gonzales Lawrence Chris Gonzales (born March 28, 1967, in West Covina, California) is a retired professional baseball player who played 1 season for the California Angels of Major League Baseball. , who joined Alarcon on Thursday. ``I got here in 1991 and I said, boy, that's just an accident waiting to happen,'' said Gonzales, who oversees a campus of 1,554 pre-kindergarten through fifth-grade students. ``Every six months, on average, there's an accident during the day. It's just a dangerous intersection.'' Motorists have rammed into street lights, careened into pedestrians walking their bicycles across Van Nuys Boulevard, and even pinned people awaiting buses at a nearby bus stop, Gonzales said. The death of Sylvia Rios, killed in 1997 while trying to pick up her daughter from school, is the only fatality fa·tal·i·ty n. 1. A death resulting from an accident or disaster. 2. One that is killed as a result of such an occurrence. that Gonzales could recall at that intersection. It was one too many, he said. ``If you get one death in 10 accidents that's too many. If you get 10 accidents that's 10 too many,'' Gonzales said. ``You see (accidents) so frequently, it's only a matter of time that somebody is going to die and it's going to be a child.'' Mark Dierking, legislative deputy for Councilman-elect Alex Padilla Alex Padilla is a politician in California. He was elected as the State Senator for the 20th District of California in November 2006 and was inaugurated in early December. In order to enter the Senate he had to resign as Councilman for the 7th District on the Los Angeles City , said he hopes to continue installing the sensors throughout his district, Dierking said. ``He's going to make (basic services basic services, n.pl frequently insurance companies split dental procedures into basic and major categories. Basic services usually consist of diagnostic, preventive, and routine restorative dental services. ) a center point of his administration,'' said Dierking, who joined Alarcon on behalf of Padilla, who is on vacation. CAPTION(S): photo, map Photo: Flashing lights Flashing Light is a rhythmic light in which the total duration of the light in each period is clearly shorter than the total duration of the darkness and in which the flashes of light are all of equal duration. and an electronic sensor, top, stand watch to make a Pacoima crosswalk safer for pedestrians like Benigna Sanchez and her son Isaac, 6, as well as Gary Wright and his sister Cherish. Phil McCarten/Daily News Map: Pacoima Smart crosswalk |
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