This may sound like a good idea, but it doesn’t add to pedestrian safety, it just means that the pedestrian will be further into the path of traffic before they are hit. What we need is a dedicated UK style signaling that brings all traffic entering the cross walk to a stop before the walk sign is lit. This means pedestrians and motorists don’t get the mixed signal of a green light but still having to watch for cars or pedestrians.
If you watch the video the cross walk gives the pedestrians 17 seconds, enough time to cross the street before traffic is allowed to flow. If you just had a lead of 3 seconds it wouldn’t make any difference the cars would still push there way into the cross walk.
We are programmed to go on green and sometimes we forget that green doesn’t mean go. It means proceed and watch for pedestrians in the cross walk who have right of way.
