Today is the first day of a 15-day enforcement program police hope will make a difference in pedestrian safety near Bethesda Elementary School.
An officer watched the pedestrian-heavy intersection of Edgemoor Lane and Arlington Road this morning from the parking lot of the Bethesda Library as kids walked to school and others walked to the Metro station.
Police are looking for drivers who fail to stop and yield before turning right on red. The intersection has attracted scrutiny since a February incident in which a baby in a stroller was dragged a few feet from the crosswalk by a car turning from Edgemoor Lane. The baby was uninjured and the driver was issued a citation.
Police will also focus on the area of Democracy Boulevard between Old Georgetown Road and Bells Mill Road, where pedestrians often cross to get to Walter Johnson High School and the county’s Davis Library.
Meanwhile, it appears one of the pedestrian crossing signs at Wisconsin Avenue and Stanford Street was mowed down by a car over the weekend.
Drivers rarely yield at the crosswalk that leads to the U.S. Post Office, even though signs indicate they must if a pedestrian is crossing. A Bethesda Urban Partnership crew picked up most of the flattened sign this morning, leaving a stump of metal in the sidewalk.
