Nominations for Worst Pedestrian Danger Zones

Many of you responded to my request for dangerous locations for pedestrians [Dr. Gridlock, May 4].

The nominations span the region, but note the common elements described by the letter writers: busy streets flanked by popular destinations, wide roadways with no refuge for pedestrians, distracted walkers and drivers, commuter routes cutting through densely populated neighborhoods and illegal maneuvers by walkers and drivers.

Dear Dr. Gridlock:

The letter from Philip Lalka [Dr. Gridlock, May 4] certainly pointed out the big problem of pedestrians flouting the crosswalk signs around the Discovery building in downtown Silver Spring, but it didn't tell the whole story.

The single-most dangerous intersection in my routine pedestrian wanderings is the Georgia Avenue and Colesville Road intersection adjacent to Discovery. The problem is that cars turning left from southbound Colesville to go south on Georgia toward the District routinely run the red light. I've seen half of the walk cycle taken up with cars running that light.

I don't feel safe crossing there anymore. The problem is at its worst on weekends, with shoppers heading from Colesville to park at the nearby Wayne Avenue garage.

Although pedestrians should not engage in unsafe behavior, to some extent they are pushed to do so by drivers breaking the rules. I'm convinced that if there were a police presence at that intersection, a lot more cars would get ticketed for running the red light than would pedestrians for disobeying their signals.