Small Changes Appear Along North Decatur Road; Residents Hope More to Come
Decatur Metro | July 16, 2013
Michael sent in this photo of a new “ghost chair” for Jianchang Wu, who was killed at the intersection of North Decatur Road and Superior Avenue a few weeks ago. The chair sits across from the ghost bike of Paul Taylor, who was killed near the same intersection last year.
Michael adds…
I have seen workers from the county taking photos of the traffic on North Decatur from the vantage point of Landover Drive and a crew came out from the county “because of the traffic fatality” and cleared all the kudzu and brush that grows out of the creek into the street.
However, this doesn’t address the fact that there is no where to walk except the street anyway on that side of North Decatur.
These small changes have been documented by another nearby resident, Joe, who took the following photo of the cutback shrubbery and adds that the clearing of the sidewalk…
…helps some, but as you can see from the attached photos, this remains an extremely dangerous place for pedestrians. The sidewalk narrows and loses the grass strip at the creek, making the pedestrian walk within inches of fast moving traffic. On top of that, the sidewalk is crumbling, broken and uneven. If a person were to trip on the manhole, they would surely be hit by oncoming cars. This section of road is right across from Landover and adjacent to the scene of the terrible tragedy that happened to the Wu family. It is my personal hope that the County can replace this culvert or at least the sidewalk with something that removes the pedestrian from the flow of traffic.
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Saw a motorcycle cop pull someone over for speeding on N Decatur this morning… first time I’ve seen it before. They were probably caught going down the hill from Clairemont to Suburban Plaza.
This is a very vague recollection and I could be wrong, but isn’t there a Georgia statute that forbids using speed detection devices on cars descending grades of more than some relatively small percentage? If so, it might apply here — that hill is kind of steep.
I have no idea but I hope you are wrong. Isn’t the driver ultimately responsible for the speed of the car, regardless of grade or other conditions?
Dem is correct. Georgia Code 40-14-9 includes the requirement that “No speed detection device shall be employed by county, municipal, or campus law enforcement officers on any portion of any highway which has a grade in excess of 7 percent.”
That’s fascinating. Who knew?
But if the motorcycle cop was pacing him on his bike, is that considered a “speed detection device” or is there a distinction between pacing and laser, etc.?
It doesn’t say you can’t get busted for speeding on a grade.
Rules for traffic control/speed measure are complicated. Some years ago( at least 8 or 10 years ago) we in the Ponce Terrace neighborhood talked with the city and the police about better traffic control in our area. We were concerned about the speed of traffic through the neighborhood and also frequent running/rolling through stop signs. I came away from the meeting feeling , given the laws governing traffic control , it was nearly impossible for police to control the traffic our short, winding neighborhood streets.
I don’t recall all the specifics but there are rules about the sight line distance needed for police to properly observe cars running stop signs, rules about the flat, straight distance over which speed must be measured before police can ticket for speeding (I think the rules applied to both radar and pacing by police vehicle) and also the above mentioned issues about speed on steep grades .
The are several spots where DPD frequently sit to catch speeders . It is rare to see them ticket a speeder anywhere else . I suspect that has to do with these rules.
Another of the rules is that local police cannot issue a radar-detected ticket unless the speed is more than 10 mph over the limit. Only the Georgia State Patrol can ticket for less than that. All the rules are an outgrowth of the infamous east Georgia speed traps (ever heard the song “Ludowici on highway 301″ ? ) of many years back.
Local officers can stop and ticket you for less than 10 mph over if they pace you, or they can stop you and warn you for as little as 1 mph over, and all bets are off in a school zone: http://thegeorgiaspeedingticketkiller.com/life_in_fast_lane.php
You are correct; I was referring to radar clocked stops.
Me, apparently! Or at least vaguely recalled. I got geared up to challenge a speeding ticket a few years ago and actually read a lot of the state statutes about speed detection. There are all sorts of rules that constrain the police in this regard. If you challenge a speeding ticket, the solicitor actually has to lay a somewhat detailed foundation establishing that the cop complied with all those restrictions. If he/she fails to do that, as a matter of GA law, you win, regardless of how fast you might have been going.
A couple comments about this intersection, neither likely popular.
First, I sympathize with the families who lost loved ones, but I just don’t see the appeal of having an old bike and an old chair chained to the railing, sitting there gathering road grime. If the intent is to memorialize the accident victims, there has to be a better way.
Second, which of you were the folks hanging out down there with the ‘speed gun’ that looks like something you would use to measure the speed of a fastball? How are you going to use the ‘data’ you are gathering? I assume you are trying to make some case to lobby the CoD/county to do something about road design, but help me understand how this bolsters your case. I am skeptical, but looking for some education on why I should support some kind of change to the roadway design.
Like it or not, Mr Taylor and Mr Wu were killed in morning rush hour accidents – no malicious intent in either case.
Every time I ride by Mr. Taylor’s bike, it is a reminder. Some days about how I’m riding, and others about how short life is.
And since when is 6am rush hour? The real question is why does a memorial to a husband, father, brother and fellow community member/human being bother you so much? Is it hurting or disturbing you personally in some way?
http://decatur.patch.com/groups/obituaries/p/obit-for-paul-taylor-bicyclist-killed-in-wreck
I recognize that it is a sensitive subject, Daydreamer and appreciate your response.
My point is twofold: 1. anger, mourning and remembering are all justifiable responses. Is there a more appropriate way to help folks tap those emotions? 2. Does every accident justify a change in road design or enforcement policy?
Re “Does every accident justify…”: No but you can see on another thread about this accident that folks clearly describe how that stretch of N. Decatur is dangerous for pedestrians. Despite being a high density residential area with lots of walkers, on one side of the street, there’s no place to walk, not even to a crosswalk so one can get across to the side of the street with a sidewalk. On the other side, the sidewalk was severely narrowed by foliage until recently. So this area has been dangerous and difficult for pedestrians long before the tragic accident of a visitor to our country.
As the sender of the chair picture who lives on Landover, I have thought about what the longevity of the memorial should be and I think they should stay up until there is meaningful change to the traffic pattern on that street. And, yes, it will happen, if not until they hopefully do put a streetcar/transit down the middle. I often rent cars from the Hertz at the end of the intersection and walk back home after and you simply do not feel safe at any time on the sidewalk anywhere between Scott and Clairmont.
Thank you, Michael.
No malicious intent, I’m sure you are right. I suggest no intent whatsoever. The very definition of carelessness. That’s bad driving. Wanton, Reckless.
As the father of two little ones, I find that a useful barometer of pedestrian friendliness is The Stroller Test. Basically, can I successfully navigate our old four-wheeled pos stroller down the sidewalk and across street intersections without the need to pick up the wheels every five feet or fear for my life? The section of sidewalk in the picture above would probably score a C- or D+ due to the crumbling bit around the manhole cover and (soon to encroach again) kudzu, not to mention the danger posed by trucks and vans with extended side-view mirrors whooshing by at breakneck speeds.
What an apt description: Breakneck Speeds: very fast, especially in a way that is dangerous/likely to harm or kill someone, or to damage or destroy something.
I used to live on N. Decatur and walk with my kiddos to Suno or the grocery store. That section of sidewalk in the picture is barely the width of a double jogging stroller. So, at the point where the sidewalk crimbles at the manhole, *you have to carry the stroller* – otherwise there is no sidewalk under the street-side wheel. Other pedestrians had to wait on the other side of the bridge for me to pass, or step into the road. It made walking to the shopping centers – arguably one of the advantages of in-town living – more scary than it was worth, and we usually just drove.
Of course, to get to that side of the street, I had to jaywalk and dart across 4 lanes of traffic w/o a crosswalk b/ c there was 1) no sidewalk on my side of the street, and 2) no way to walk across all the yards to get to a crosswalk b/c of other people’s fences and bushes.
Okay, so the county workers whacked the kudzu and sprayed round-up on the remaining vegetation. There is still a trip hazard around the manhole cover and a slip hazard on the remaining sand/gravel. Not acceptable! Not in the realm of what would be considered a professional solution.
it’s not just “speeding” either — with the intersection at the bottom of the hill people blow through red lights all the time. I live about 3 blocks away and it seems police are more present/ pull people over during non-summer Emory semesters. – it’s ‘fish in a barrel’
North Decatur is also just so incredibly narrow on that stretch between Clairmont and Scott. I fear for my life driving if there’s a bus rolling down the middle lane toward me. There is not even any gutter or any extra space on the road. I wonder how wide the road is compared to other 4 lanes with that amount of traffic. Besides these terrible pedestrian and cyclist tragedies, I would imagine the rate of car wrecks is pretty high on this stretch as well because of lane width and speed. I know I’ve seen a lot and lots of near misses. Someone told me that this road was grandfathered in somehow and didnt meet current standards for the road or sidewalk. Anyone know if this is true? And how to get that changed given safety concerns?
When we lived on this section of N. Decatur, there was a several-week period where Decatur City Police set up to catch speeders between Wendan and N. Superior (at the top of the hill, getting people coming up the hill or over the top, not the downhill side). Only that small section is COD, but they were aggressive at patrolling it for a while. I waved and gave them the thumbs up whenever I could catch their eye as a thank you. I know most of us know to slow down on Scott near Westchester b/c of that usual spot for police to watch for speeders – would not hurt for N. Decatur Rd. to get the same reputation.