Students in Greenburgh recommend pedestrian safety technology to reduce accidents

As the Town of Greenburgh explores how to make the roads safer after a ninth pedestrian was hit by a car over the weekend, some of its youngest residents are stepping up to help.

News 12 Staff

Feb 17, 2020, 9:16 PM

Updated 1,770 days ago

Share:

As the Town of Greenburgh explores how to make the roads safer after a ninth pedestrian was hit by a car over the weekend, some of its youngest residents are stepping up to help.
The group of fourth and fifth graders from Concord Road Elementary School and Ardsley Middle School call themselves Legendary Robots. They are recommending the use of PIR sensors or Passive Infared Devices to reduce pedestrian accidents.
The PIR sensors pick up on infrared radiation, or body heat, and then change traffic lights and crossing signals automatically.
When used with standard crosswalk buttons, a U.S. Department of Transportation study from 2001 found PIR Sensors resulted in a "significant reduction in vehicle-pedestrian conflicts" and reduced the number of jaywalkers.
In the past few months, nine people who were crossing local roads have been hit by cars and killed or hospitalized. The latest one on Saturday landed a 70-year-old man in the hospital.
Since the latest accident this past weekend, police have been out in full force targeting and ticketing drivers who are speeding, distracted or not yielding to pedestrians.