More News

A rubbery screech echoed along Piney Branch Road in front of Eastern Carryout as a dark-green minivan hit the brakes too late at a red light and skidded part of the way into the intersection, blocking the crosswalk. Officer Norman Brissett quickly walked up to the vehicle and leaned in to talk with the driver.

A light rain wet the pavement along the busy road as impatient pedestrians and speedy drivers played a deadly game of hit-or-miss that has made this stretch of Piney Branch – between Flower Avenue and the Prince George's County border – the road with the highest number of pedestrian collisions in Montgomery County.

"That was basically speed," Brissett said after sending the van on its way. "That's what caused that; he was driving too fast, so I reminded him that it was wet and very slippery out, so he has to slow down."

Only a few feet away in front of the restaurant, Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett and county department of transportation Director Arthur Holmes hosted a press conference about a new county-funded team of police-trained civilians who hope to reduce the number of incidents in the corridor.

Using money from the county's speed-camera fund, which by mandate needs to be spent on pedestrian safety and related initiatives, the county hired a team of eight employees from the immigrant advocacy group, Casa of Maryland, to blanket the 1.6-mile corridor.

"The idea is to go up to people who we see doing something that is unsafe, for example somebody who is not crossing at a crosswalk, to pull them up and call attention to the fact that they're putting themselves at risk needlessly," said Casa manager Gustavo Andrade at the event.

A total of 26 pedestrian or biker-related collisions, including one fatality, were reported on the stretch between January 2003 and December 2007. A total of 12 pedestrian fatalities have been reported countywide so far this year, making pedestrian safety a priority for Leggett and other officials.

The team will hand out information and remind pedestrians about safety habits three days a week until the end of the busy holiday season, when increased foot traffic often leads to more collisions, according to Holmes, who showed off a bright yellow, reflective bag the workers were handing out to pedestrians.

"If you're walking, say, at six o'clock when it gets dark now, when someone's lights hit [the bag], you're very, very visible," he said. "That's the kind of thing that we're trying to do; make people aware. This is an education program."

The county and the State Highway Administration will also be installing additional speed and safety signs in the area and "buffout" road fixtures at busy intersections to funnel drivers and force them to slow down approaching heavily-walked crosswalks, Holmes said, explaining that the teams were only a temporary patch for the area's safety concerns.