Pedestrians cause Honolulu traffic problems

Honolulu has two kinds of traffic– bad and worse. Each is broken into two groups– downtown and highway. Highway traffic congestion is the result of too many cars, bad drivers, not enough highway.

City traffic congestion is caused by too many cars, bad drivers, not enough streets, and pedestrians. Downtown traffic problems are mostly the fault of pedestrians.

If drivers are required to take a written test and a driver test to obtain a license to operate a motor vehicle, why not a similar license requirement for pedestrians?

Pedestrians should not be allowed to cross a street without a license. They cause most of the downtown traffic problems anyway, why not make sure only the qualified are allowed to use the crosswalks.

Honolulu has one of the highest pedestrian death and accident rates in the US. Why? Hawaii has an older population that remains mobile. They walk to where they need to go, or to take a bus. Hawaii’s weather permits walking throughout the year. That’s too much walking by an obviously unqualified citizenry.

With all those people out walking from here to there on city sidewalks, crossing city streets, we’re bound to have more pedestrian accidents, and more downtown traffic congestion. Pedestrians make it a habit of not cross streets in the alloted time. In a confrontation between two tons of automobile or truck and a slow moving pedestrian, the latter always loses. It’s time for a change in how we deal with pedestrians.

Pedestrians should be required to take a written test on crosswalk safety procedures, traffic knowledge, and the consequences (complete with a full color movie re-enactment) of meeting head on with a vehicle at the wrong place and time.

Once a prospective pedestrian has successfully completed the written test, they receive a walker’s permit which would allow them to use the crosswalks to reach the other side of the street, but only when accompanied by a fully licensed pedestrian. After six months, pedestrians must pass a final walking test with a certified state walking examiner.

The pedestrian would be graded on ability to press the cross walk light button enough times to make the light change, but not so often as to indicate a belief in magic. Cross walking would be timed during the examination, and the pedestrian would be required to cross the street in a minimally established time.

Slower pedestrians, those who cannot walk across the street quickly enough or before the light changes, would not receive a pedestrian license. That would cut down on pedestrian caused traffic congestion, especially in the downtown area.

Pedestrians with a valid license would be required to wear a colored ribbon holding their license around their neck so the pedestrian traffic police can identify them as licensed pedestrians. Older pedestrians would be required to take both the written and walking test every two years after age 60.

Anyone would be allowed to use the city’s sidewalks to walk, but a pedestrian must have a license to use the crosswalks. Children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by a licensed pedestrian to use a city crosswalk. Jaywalkers would be subject to the same penalties and fines as drivers, and may, after a certain number of pedestrian infractions, lose the privilege to use the crosswalk for up to six months.

In the absence of other sanctioned or popular vehicular and street solutions to Honolulu’s growing traffic problems, particularly in the downtown area, HawaiiBlogger submits the Pedestrian License as a bona fide alternative.

Hey, it could happen. It could save lives.