Over the past month, Ballard residents have noticed more drivers failing to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks, right around early-morning school drop-off, with close calls involving families with small children, cyclists and runners.

Several spots keep surfacing as problem areas: the Starbucks drive-through at 15th & 53rd, where people have nearly been hit; the crosswalk at 58th & 24th, where drivers blow past despite traffic having already stopped for pedestrians; and the stretch of Leary Way near 17th, where drivers have swerved around cyclists mid-intersection rather than wait. The danger isn't limited to cars, either - cyclists have also failed to yield to pedestrians who had the legal right to cross, including one report of a child clipped by a bike at a controlled crossing.

Pedestrians still need to stay alert too, since people do step into the street without checking or appear suddenly from behind parked cars and other obstructions. Still, it doesn't erase the larger responsibility carried by people operating two-ton vehicles, who have far more power to prevent a collision than someone on foot.

The fixes are concrete: report specific intersections through the city's Find It, Fix It app; add raised crosswalks and improved lighting; install cameras for speeding and red-light running; or photograph repeat offenders. Ballard's surface streets are also wide and highway-like instead of designed for a neighborhood, a street layout that goes a long way toward explaining why speeding is so common there. For now, the message to drivers is blunt: ease up in the mornings, because kids and parents are in those crosswalks.

This report reflects early witness accounts and community reports; it had not been independently confirmed by police as of publication. Source.