Thanks to the Carson City School District for quick response in moving a crosswalk on Edmonds Drive after a close-call accident demonstrated the danger there.
Unfortunately, the crosswalk was in the wrong place to begin with.
There's no excusing motorists who aren't paying attention and, like the driver in the accident last week, rear-ended a vehicle, nearly knocking it into schoolchildren. Nevertheless, the crosswalk was in a bad place - in the middle of a 35 mph zone and next to a steep hillside, where it was all too easy for kids on foot or bike to dart into the street without warning when no crossing guard was on duty.
The simple solution was to move the crosswalk north to Desatoya Drive. It's not quite in the school zone yet, but it will be when some new signs are erected to the south.
That means drivers still need to use some extra caution. For a few days anyway, northbound drivers will get to the crosswalk before they get to the school zone.
Why not slow down on Edmonds, anyway? It has become a major north-south route as traffic keeps being pushed east, and the roundabout seems only to have become a challenge for speeding drivers.
The shortcut isn't a shortcut when schoolchildren are arriving or leaving. And, as the Aug. 30 accident showed, it only takes one driver's mistake to back up traffic for a long time.
When people talk about completion of the bypass, it's usually in terms of the effect on Carson Street. Clearly, though, much of the traffic streaming along Edmonds is in search of a better route. It's just going to get worse before the southern half of the freeway is done and that congestion is relieved.
With or without a freeway, the advice stays the same: Slow down. Stop for pedestrians in crosswalks. Pay attention to driving and nothing else.
