Pedestrians

EMMITSBURG, Md. -- Two people were killed Sunday morning when a 2006 Mercury Mountaineer driven by a Fayetteville, Pa., woman rapidly accelerated in reverse and struck three pedestrians while the woman was attempting to parallel park along North Seton Avenue, police said. The incident at 121 N. Seton Ave. occurred as a group of people gathered along the street after a church service, according to The Associated Press. Patricia Mauro-Cillo, 64, and John Cillo, 53, both of Emmitsburg, were killed, according to the Frederick County Sheriff's Office.

As Irene Giffin was crossing Leitersburg Pike's northbound lanes in her motorized wheelchair in a crosswalk, vehicles coming out of a shopping center would pass in front of or behind her, the Hagerstown resident said. “At one time, it was so close to me I could touch the car and it scared the living bejeebers out of me,” said Giffin, who uses a red flag that flies 3 feet to 4 feet above her wheelchair when she is in traffic situations. Giffin said she thought at first she made a mistake or the traffic signals' synchronization was mixed up. But each time the electronic pedestrian sign gave her the go ahead to cross, the traffic signal turned green for traffic leaving both Long Meadow Shopping Center and Stone House Square.

Pedestrians to get a jump on traffic at square Hagerstown's Public Square will have a more pedestrian-friendly traffic signal pattern this week, City Engineer Bruce Johnston said before Tuesday's City Council work session. Starting today or Thursday, the white walk sign at the crosswalks will give pedestrians a seven-second head start before parallel traffic gets a green signal, Johnston said. Some City Council members expressed concern for pedestrians last week because the new signals at the intersection of Washington and Potomac streets didn't provide red lights for all traffic at once so pedestrians could cross safely.

With the help of audible crosswalk technology, pedestrians crossing Public Square in Hagerstown are now being told how much time they have to safely cross the street, a spokesman for the Maryland Department of Transportation's State Highway Administration said Monday. The State Highway Administration had the "Countdown" signals installed in mid-April on Public Square in response to requests from citizens and support from Hagerstown City Council, Chuck Gischlar said. The State Highway Administration has been installing the audible crosswalk signals at intersections throughout the state because they are safer than the visible "walking man" signals, which sometimes leave pedestrians confused and caught in an intersection, Gischlar said.

Construction is slated to begin in August on a pair of traffic islands at Park Circle that will make it safer for Hagerstown residents crossing the street to get to City Park, according to a city official. The curbed “refuge” islands, complete with new pedestrian crosswalks, handicap ramps and stop signs, will be located where South Walnut Street and Virginia Avenue enter the traffic circle, City Engineer Rodney Tissue said Tuesday. The Hagerstown City Council last week approved a contract not to exceed $36,000 with Concrete Central LLC of Hagerstown to complete the work later this year.

Motorists and pedestrians passing the Washington County Administration Building on Tuesday got the chance to see the County Commissioners in rare form - singing a few Christmas and seasonal carols in public. Led by Public Works Director Gary Rohrer, who wore a Santa hat, the commissioners and several county employees sang 11 carols for about 25 minutes on the front steps of the Administration Building. The songs included "Frosty the Snowman," "Jingle Bells," "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," "Deck the Halls" and "Joy to the World.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. -- Fritzi Schreffler and Joe Burns took their lives in their hands Friday, crossing and recrossing Main Street for about three hours while motorists either did or did not stop as they entered the crosswalks. Schreffler and Burns were no ordinary strollers, but undercover pedestrians working with the Waynesboro Police Department to raise awareness that drivers must stop when a person enters a crosswalk. Sixteen motorists who failed that test got written warnings, but it will be different next time.

New traffic signals on Public Square Shoppers and workers in downtown Hagerstown will not be able to cross Public Square diagonally as of Friday, city officials said. New traffic signals at the intersection of Potomac and Washington streets will be activated on Friday, said City Engineer Bruce Johnston. As a result of traffic light changes, pedestrians will have to cross one street at a time, Johnston said. Barrels will be placed temporarily at the corners to warn pedestrians not to cross diagonally, he said.

Pedestrians crossing the street at the intersection of Franklin and North Potomac streets in Hagerstown will no longer be able to "walk in all directions," when a WALK signal appears, the Hagerstown Engineering Department said Thursday. The white WALK signals often come on at the same time as the traffic parallel to the crosswalk is being permitted to move through the intersection. This means pedestrians should not cross the intersection diagonally, according to the announcement.

The West Virginia Division of Highways said Monday that a stop sign will be installed on Athletic Street at the intersection with East Road during the week of Oct. 24. A study has shown that making this an all-way stop will significantly increase the safety for pedestrians, according to a news release from the Division of Highways. The intersection is near North Middle School and Opequon Elementary School.

A 26-year-old woman who was killed after being struck by a Jeep along Sharpsburg Pike in front of her house Monday night was an information technology consultant who had worked around the country, according to her roommate. Although Priyanka Malik was from India, she had traveled back and forth between India and the U.S. a number of times and had worked in Delaware, California and New York, said Mary Myers, who lived with Malik in a house across the street from a Food Lion at the intersection of Lyles Drive and Sharpsburg Pike.

A pedestrian hit by a vehicle Tuesday night in the Borough of Waynesboro was listed in critical condition at Meritus Medical Center, Waynesboro police said in a news release Wednesday morning. Alan Moats of Waynesboro was crossing East Second Street about 8:38 p.m. when he was hit by a vehicle at the road's intersection with Enterprise Avenue, police said. The vehicle driven by John Boyd of Waynesboro was eastbound on East Second Street, police said. Police said they are continuing to investigate the incident.

A 60-year-old man was struck by a vehicle Monday evening in the 1400 block of Dual Highway, the Washington County Sheriff's Office said. Deputy 1st Class Carly Hose said that William Kenneth Mills Jr. walked into the path of a Buick sedan at about 7 p.m. on the stretch of Dual Highway east of the intersection with Mt. Aetna Road. She said Mills was taken to Meritus Medical Center east of Hagerstown to be treated for minor injuries. No damage was done to the Buick. Hose said Mills was found to be at fault for the accident.

A male pedestrian was struck by a vehicle Thursday night near the Exxon/AC&T gas station at the intersection of Halfway Boulevard and Hopewell Road, according to a Washington County Emergency Services supervisor. Washington County Sheriff's deputies and emergency medical personnel responded and evaluated the man who had been hit, the supervisor said. The man was transported by ambulance to Meritus Medical Center with “very minor” injuries, according to a sheriff's deputy.

A man was taken to Meritus Medical Center to be treated for non life-threatening injuries after he walked into the side of a car Tuesday afternoon at the intersection of Antietam Street and Burhans Boulevard, Hagerstown police said. The man, who identified himself as Jack Smith of Huntington, W.Va., walked into the side of a Chevrolet Cavalier shortly after 4 p.m., Lt. Chad Woodring said Wednesday morning. Woodring said Smith was at fault. Traffic was snarled in the area for a short time while rescue workers responded to the call.

As Irene Giffin was crossing Leitersburg Pike's northbound lanes in her motorized wheelchair in a crosswalk, vehicles coming out of a shopping center would pass in front of or behind her, the Hagerstown resident said. “At one time, it was so close to me I could touch the car and it scared the living bejeebers out of me,” said Giffin, who uses a red flag that flies 3 feet to 4 feet above her wheelchair when she is in traffic situations. Giffin said she thought at first she made a mistake or the traffic signals' synchronization was mixed up. But each time the electronic pedestrian sign gave her the go ahead to cross, the traffic signal turned green for traffic leaving both Long Meadow Shopping Center and Stone House Square.

A Fort Littleton, Pa., man died Friday when he was struck by a bus on Pa. 16, a few miles west of Greencastle, Pa., according to a news release from Pennsylvania State Police and the Franklin County Coroner's Office. Robert B. Thomas, 46, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. The incident was reported at 11:52 a.m. in the area of Letzburg Road in Peters Township, police said. A 2011 Ford bus, driven by Maurice J. Mills Jr., 74, of Fayetteville, Pa., was traveling east on Pa. 16 when it struck Thomas, police said.

A man was killed Wednesday night when he stepped in front of a vehicle that was southbound on Buckeystown Pike near Executive Way, according to Maryland State Police. The man was dead when state police arrived at the scene, according to a news release. The accident occurred about 9 p.m., police said. State police were not releasing the name of the victim Wednesday night because they had not finished notifying his family members. State police said Buckeystown Pike (Md. 85)

A Martinsburg man accused of striking a pedestrian with a vehicle in the parking lot of a Berkeley County nightclub last year and leaving the scene was sentenced Thursday in Berkeley County Circuit Court. Cody A. Ashby, 20, was ordered by 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Gray Silver III to serve a six-month sentence and a one-year sentence concurrently for misdemeanor convictions of assault and leaving the scene of an accident involving injury, Assistant County Prosecuting Attorney Gregory K. Jones said.

The problem : Low-hanging branches prevent people from walking along part of a sidewalk on Northern Avenue in Hagerstown, between Oak Hill Avenue and The Terrace, according to reader Jerry King. King lives in Falling Waters, W.Va., but said he goes to the Hagerstown YMCA every day and walks in the neighborhood four times a week, including along this stretch of road. He wrote in an email that the branches force pedestrians “to walk out into Northern Ave. and risk getting run over .... I have watched one of our local disabled senior citizens have a problem getting under the bush in his wheelchair after a rainstorm, which causes the bush branches to be (even)