Editorial: Crusade for safety

Say what you want about John Perzel, but the former state legislator had it right seven years ago when he called for the construction of more underpasses on the speed trap known as Roosevelt Boulevard.

Mr. Perzel, who's facing trial later this year on a host of corruption charges, was reacting to a number of fatal accidents involving pedestrians who tried, unsuccessfully, to cross the road.

The idea for the underpasses, estimated to cost up to $16 million each, went nowhere, the victim of funding woes and misplaced governmental priorities, but Mr. Perzel was on to something.

The April 11 death of Giselle Moya, a 28-year-old pregnant woman from Rhawnhurst who was struck and killed by a motorcyclist while she was crossing the Boulevard, should inspire a crusade by government officials, public safety activists and ordinary citizens to bring Mr. Perzel's idea to fruition.

Authorities should supplement the successful red-light cameras at key Boulevard intersections by saturating the highway with increased police patrols and crosswalks and installing even more red-light cameras to catch speeders.

For those who think a couple of fatal accidents involving pedestrians here and there are to be expected on a high-speed road such as the Boulevard, and that careless pedestrians cross the highway at their own risk, shame on you.

Giselle Moya didn't have to die. She was only 28. Had she lived, perhaps she would have done great things for society. Perhaps the fetus that she was carrying in her belly for eight months would have grown up to do great things for society. We'll never know.

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