Thieves target crosswalk flags

The crosswalk flag wars tipped slightly in favour of the good guys last week.

The program puts buckets of bright flags on either side of crosswalks on Waverley Road so pedestrians can better alert drivers when they are crossing. The community-driven pilot started in early August and less than a week in, thieves had stolen 65 flags. An outburst of media coverage evidently pricked someone's guilty conscience.

"This morning, we're actually up one flag," said East Dartmouth-The Lakes Coun. Andrew Younger Friday. "I guess somebody returned one of the ones they stole. We've only had the program up for a few days, but we've lost a lot of flags."

The councillor noted that similar projects in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Japan suffered similar thefts.

"The crosswalks have been adopted by area businesses and residents and we have been able to collect license plate numbers of cars involved in the act and will report anyone or any vehicle seen stealing flags to the police," said Younger.

Younger chalks the thefts up to pranks - one vehicle pulled up and stole all of the flags from one bucket.

"That's extremely frustrating, especially because this truly is a community venture," he said. The municipality isn't officially endorsing it, as the flags aren't recognized as a "traffic-control device," but Younger's district has put $1,000 into it and local businesses have invested money as well.

The number of crosswalk accidents have actually steadily declined since the 1980s, but there have been several high-profile fatal accidents in recent years. The flags work because they are bright, and at eye level, making it easier for drivers to spot pedestrians. Six flags sit on either side and pedestrians carry them across and leave them in the opposite box. Even when the flags aren't in use, they add visibility to the crosswalk markings.

There are no plans to abandon the project. "But if the flags keep on disappearing, there's a certain point where we just won't be able to do it," said Younger. He compares it to the graffiti approach, which is to be cleaned off as soon as it appears. He hopes that if the flags keep being replaced, the thieves will lose interest before the project runs out of money.

The idea is the brainchild of Norm Collins, who lives in the area. He wanted lime-green crosswalk signs such as you'd see in Liverpool, Nova Scotia, but found that's not allowed under the motor vehicle act. A friend saw the flags in Salt Lake City, and Collins thought it might work here.

"I've only once seen somebody using them," he said, "but the thing to me is you're hundreds of metres away and you see these things on the crosswalk. They've done what the lime-green signs would have done."

Collins said they went into the project with open eyes, buying 400 flags. The 13 sites require 156 flags.

jon@jontattrie.ca