I live in Lewes and often drive through Dewey Beach on my way to the Rehoboth Bay Sailing Association. My husband and I have a rule when we enter the Town of Dewey: all phones in the car must be put away. All eyes are on the crosswalks. That is because we have seen so many near misses at crosswalks for pedestrians that we require full vigilance – and watch cars in all lanes of traffic too. The crosswalks in Dewey are dangerous. The wood-piling fences down the medians may look nice, but they hide the crossing pedestrians. As people approach the center of the road, the fencing covers them up, which we have witnessed creating many dangerous situations.
One day this summer on one of the busier holiday weekends, we were slowly making our way through Dewey stop-and-go traffic. A family on vacation approached the center median crosswalk. The inside lane car saw them and stopped. We were in the second lane and also saw them and stopped. The family started to cross and their small toddler went ahead of them on a tricycle. They were on vacation and don’t know how dangerous Dewey crosswalks are. A black sports car couldn’t see the family or the toddler passing in front of our cars and sped around the stopped traffic in the far turn lane, blasting right through the crosswalk. We screamed in our truck. The sports car missed the toddler by less than a foot. At the speed they went through the crosswalk, the car would have killed the child. It was so horrifying, my husband did not want to discuss the incident for the rest of the day, but it is a common occurrence in Dewey. We commonly cruise through town with our windows down to wave at other cars, and as always the same rule: all phones down in Dewey.
Something needs to change to prevent pedestrian deaths. The wooden fencing on the crosswalks should be removed and better crosswalk lighting installed with lighting across the entire intersection either overhead or recessed. The small lights on either side are not enough. Let’s save lives in Dewey. Traffic isn’t going to get better.
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