Following the low-cost trend employed by other municipalities, City of Albuquerque has resorted to pedestrian flags at new mid-block crossings, such as here at Girard and Marble between Lomas and Constitution.

Before:

After:

In addition to crosswalk striping, a cute little sign in the middle of Girard, and triangular yellow sign/arrow, you can spot the red flags (yes, they should be white, as in “we walkers/rollers surrender”) waiting for use above.

A thorough 23-second review of studies, i.e. Googling, reveals that pedestrian flags do seem to provide somewhat higher driver compliance. And they’re a damn sight cheaper than, say, bringing that sidewalk above into ADA 5-foot width compliance. Still, the presence of these flags illustrates many things, including the power dynamic in place these days between roadway users.

I’ve been thinking about this dynamic quite a bit these days and what we can do about it, particularly given that 98% of users don’t seem interested in doing anything about it whatsoever. I’m reminded of the speech supremely orated by Samuel L. Jackson’s character in Taratino’s “Pulp Fiction.”

You see, City of Albuquerque is trying real hard to be the shepherd here. At about $3.72 per 9-millimeter safety flag. And those of us who walk and roll the City streets and stroads are Tim Roth’s character staring at the business end of Mr. 9-millimeter.

That about sums it up. Stay safe out there, everybody.