Oregon Public Broadcasting

If you consider walking just putting one foot in front of the other, think again.

The Willamette Pedestrian Coalition is holding a meeting Monday night, to help people learn about their rights as walkers. Kristian Foden-Vencil reports.

When people talk about alternative forms of transportation they’re usually talking about trains, bicycles or buses. But says Lynn Lindgren-Schreuder of the Pedestrian Coalition, walking gets less respect.

Lynn Lindgren-Schreuder: “I think walking is a great equalizer of human kind. It’s something that everybody can do. But it’s also something people don’t spent a lot of time thinking about.  However, when we don’t have a good infrastructure, we have cars that keep racing by us, and bad intersections, we tend to not walk, and then we do get that, gosh, I’m a second class citizen. And we want to change that.”

In the past, the pedestrian coalition has shepherded laws through Salem to get drivers to stop at cross walks.

In the upcoming legislative session, it’s hoping to legalize a hand signal that would indicate to a motorist that a pedestrian is about to enter a crosswalk.

Online:

Willamette Pedestrian Coalition