A Falls Church advisory panel is asking city leaders to embrace a low-tech but potentially effective tool to promote pedestrian safety.
Discussion on providing orange flags at unsignalized street crossings came up at the Feb. 11 meeting of the Citizens Advisory Committee on Transportation.
Pedestrians can use “see me” flags to draw attention to themselves while crossing streets. When community groups have previously done this on a piecemeal basis, “it was really effective,” committee chair David Beddoe said at the meeting.
Committee members were responding to a proposal from members of a local Girl Scout troop who are seeking to analyze data and gather input from schoolmates on using the flags.
Kits containing flags and other necessary items to launch the program at intersections can be purchased for less than $200. One organization promoting the concept says that between 72% and 80% of drivers stop when they see the flags.
Perhaps because of concerns about liability and the Dillon Rule, Falls Church staff expressed some skepticism about the city government’s ability to implement a program under its own authority.
“The question is whether these can be sanctioned by the city,” planner Jenna Brummond said.
However, staff promised to follow up with city leadership on whether the program could be a government-sponsored endeavor, or would need to continue as a community-based effort.
See Me Flags have been a presence in Arlington for years. In one recent effort, fifth-grade Girl Scouts from Ashlawn Elementary School used cookie-sale money to provide flags for Wilson Blvd crossings.
For their efforts, the youth from Troop 60195 were honored with a Bronze Award, the highest community-service accolade for junior Girl Scouts.
As part of Falls Church’s pedestrian-safety efforts, city officials last year introduced a trio of “HAWK” signals at key intersections on Broad Street. When activated by pedestrians, those signals require drivers to stop until crossings have been completed.
