Pedestrian crossing lights are too brief
Merle Bautista, of East Meadow, crosses Hempstead Turnpike at Newbridge Road. Credit: Mahala Gaylord
Regarding "Where pedestrians are dying on LI" [News, Feb. 10], I believe one of the reasons is that pedestrians are not given enough time to get across a four-lane highway at crosswalks. This could be especially true of older pedestrians, who cannot sprint across the highway.
I likely will not make it all the way across after getting the green pedestrian cross signal and end up waiting in the center divider rather than risk getting hit. There should be especially long cross times on wide highways like Sunrise Highway.
I think the people who figure out the time for crossing should bring one of their elderly family members to try. We should consider the slower crosser, not the fastest or the average. Drivers can stand to wait a few more seconds. The key word to crosswalk is walk.
Dominick Mazza
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