Downtown Pedestrian Safety

The City is committed to increasing pedestrian safety. Several pedestrian and traffic safety initiatives have been implemented over the last few years to include the installation of mid-street Yield to Pedestrian signs across the City, painting highly visible "ladder" crosswalks, and the addition of state-of-the-art "countdown" pedestrian signals at high-traffic intersections. As the City continues to resurface roadways, the City will make improvements at high-traffic intersections. These projects demonstrate the City’s commitment to make Fredericksburg a more pedestrian-friendly community. However, the City needs help from drivers and pedestrians in their effort to increase pedestrian safety.

Did you know? Virginia law requires motorists to yield the right of way to any pedestrian crossing a highway at any clearly marked crosswalk. However, pedestrians are prohibited from entering or crossing an intersection in disregard of approaching traffic. This means that both motorists and pedestrians should be on "high alert" when approaching a street crossing. Even then, the pedestrian should wait to cross until it’s obvious the driver is going to stop. In a collision between a vehicle and a pedestrian, there are no clear winners. However, some will lose to an even greater degree than others. We can all be winners if we remember the three C’s: Caution, Courtesy, and Common Sense.