Local Truck Screeches To Halt After Passing A Parent In Crosswalk Who Flipped Him Off

On Monday morning (May 16, 2022) at 9am, a parent was waiting at a crosswalk to walk their child across Wolcott Avenue towards Main Street when a large industrial truck that was teal in color with a round carriage that allegedly said EarhCare on the cab, drove past the pedestrians through the crosswalk without stopping. The crosswalk is a regular crosswalk with an added yellow sign and yellow flashing lights for extra visibility. There is a button to activate the flashing lights that the child did press. This crosswalk is not at a traffic light at an intersection. It is in the middle of the road, closer to Rose Hill Day Care. The flashing lights do not need to flash in order to give the pedestrian the right of way.

“If there is a pedestrian in the crosswalk in your lane, you should yield to them.”

— Beacon Police Officer

When asked if the flashing lights matter for a car to stop or not at a crosswalk in the middle of the road, a Beacon Police Officer who answered the desk phone that takes public inquiries stated: “If there is a pedestrian in the crosswalk in your lane, you should yield to them.”

After the truck passed them, the parent raised their arm and flipped off the driver of the truck. Seeing the gesture and looking at the parent in the eye, the truck driver, who was described as a white male, slammed on the breaks, bringing the truck to a screeching halt through and past the crosswalk. The tire tracks can be seen in these pictures. Once the truck stopped, the parent said: “You should have stopped before the crosswalk!”

An EarthCare truck parked at Beacon’s Wastewater Treatment Plant at 90 Dennings Avenue near the Transfer Station at Dennings Point. The parent said the truck that slammed on the breaks after the crosswalk on Wolcott Avenue was an EarthCare truck driving in the direction of the Transfer Station.

According to the parent, it looked like the driver was getting ready to exit his vehicle. Said the parent: “I was on the west side of the street on the sidewalk. I started walking toward the truck when he looked like he was aggressively getting out.”

When ALBB asked if the driver may have been quickly stopping for a squirrel or deer, the parent replied: “Absolutely not. And if he didn’t stop for the human child, do you think he was going to stop for a squirrel? He was looking at me in the face when he stopped”

The truck was headed in the direction of Beacon’s Transfer Station and Wastewater Treatment Plant. EarthCare is a wastewater management company contracted with the City of Beacon. A likeness photo of EarthCare’s truck that the parent saw - not necessarily the truck that screeched to a halt - is shown here in this article. The photo was taken Monday, May 16, 2022 at Beacon’s Transfer Station where the Wastewater Treatment Plant is.

Update 5/20/2022: The morning after ALBB sent a Contact Us form to EarthCare seeking confirmation and comment about the driving incident, a representative from EarthCare named Dave called at 9am to get more details and offered to pull driving records. ALBB returned his call at 9:30am, but never heard back. ALBB placed a second followup call the following day, and has not heard back.

Friends & Businesses Report Drivers Defying Basic Driving Laws By Going Around Stopped Cars At Crosswalks

The crosswalk at Zora Dora’s and Flora Good Times, where drivers headed eastbound (toward the mountain) increasingly go around cars in front of them who are stopped at the crosswalk to let a person pass.
Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth Martin

For this article, I am breaking the 4th wall and writing in the first person because this latest experience regarded my 9 year old son, but I know that business owners encounter their own near death experiences in Main Street daily. Therefore, two business contacts have been interviewed for this article, which you can read below.

Chronic Anti-Crosswalk Double Yellow Line Crossing Drivers

Willow Street and Main Street has become a regular spot for cars to do illegal U-Turns in, and now is a regular spot for people to drive around cars stopped at the crosswalk across from Zora Dora’s.

Cars coming from this direction (eastbound, toward the mountain) are increasingly going around cars in front of them who have stopped to let pedestrians cross the crosswalks.
Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth Martin

Last Friday, a friend called to tell me that they had seen my son almost get hit by a car who had sped around them as they stopped at the crosswalk at Zora Dora’s to let my son cross. This behavior has increased at Willow Street and Main Street, which is where M+T Bank is.

My son was on his bike in the crosswalk at Zora Dora’s. He was correctly inched into the crosswalk on his bike to be seen. My friend stopped for him. The car behind my friend decided that he did not want to wait for a car who had stopped at a crosswalk, and he went around the law-abiding car on the left, crossing over the double yellow line illegally.

“He sped around me,” the good driver said. “Like, not even slowing down to pass with a blinker or anything. I put my arm out and blew my horn. The oncoming car went through the crosswalk too as your son was waiting to cross.”

Businesses Speak Out About “Reckless Free Range Drivers”

Not all drivers in Beacon are bad. Not all reckless drivers are tourists. Some are locals. We see you! Whoever you are, business owners see you too, as they try to do their jobs, and…live.

Beacon Bread is located at the end of Willow Street, and has a front row seat to constant U-Turning, and double yellow line crossing for impatient drivers. Kerry Soeller is the manager at Beacon Bread and Ziatun, and had this to say about her daily experience walking on Main Street to service both restaurants:

“Getting hit by a person passing a stopped car happens often to me at the Willow crosswalk and the Elm crosswalks SEVERAL times a day (I’m not joking, it’s excessive). ”

— Kerry Soeller, Manager Beacon Bread Company and Ziatun

“Getting hit by a person passing a stopped car happens often to me at the Willow crosswalk and the Elm crosswalks SEVERAL times a day (I’m not joking, it’s excessive).

“I thought the new signage would help, but I think it takes eyes off the road, where people are trying to pop out slowly behind cars because one step out and you can get clipped regardless. I am even a nervous driver anticipating that step out by pedestrians.

“I can’t speak much for the rest of my team, but I walk between Beacon Bread and Ziatun sometimes 10 times a day. More by Ziatun, I’ve experienced a handful of passing cars that almost hit me while I’m crossing over the last two years. Not sure if they think the cars that stopped for me originally were maybe trying to parallel park. And that’s really frightening, especially if I am carrying food or equipment back and forth.

“I’m all for marking the crosswalks bolder/brighter so when you’re looking at the road in front of you, it’s visible someone may be crossing on a CROSSWALK lol.”

The City of Beacon was scheduled to repaint the crosswalks on Main Street, but canceled in October, citing rain. They had wanted to repave Main Street and repaint at the same time.

Corinne Bryson, the owner of Flora Good Times, is another example of someone who is on foot a lot, and encounters near misses. Just last month, as I was pulling out of Willow Street to turn left onto Main Street (always nerve wracking because it’s hard to time with cars coming in both directions, plus pedestrians in the crosswalk when turning left), I saw Corinne start to cross the street as I was pulling out. I stopped and waited for her, but she was giving serious side-eye to another vehicle. I thought her sight was set on me, so I reached out to apologize. Her response: “I was actually peeved the the person behind the eastbound car that stopped for me to cross. The car behind began honking at the car in front that stopped for me to cross. So rude!”

Just to make sure we’re clear - what has been happening is when vechicles stop at crosswalks, sometimes the vehicle behind them honks impatiently, and are mad that the stopped vehicle is following the law. Or being a nice person. It’s really embarrassing when it happens, especially when I stop for parallel parkers, to give them space and patience. The car behind me will beep at me. I fear that the parker thinks it’s me beeping at them.

Ah well. Guess you don’t want to drive behind me, because I stop a lot! I also sometimes don’t see people if they are behind a parked car at the crosswalk corner. Additionally, I have to remember to go slow. I do like to drive, and it’s easy to step on it once the car starts and good music is playing.

Broadly, there are a lot of courteous drivers out there. If anything, hopefully this article and others in ALBB’s Traffic series serves as awareness nuggets to help keep all of our awarenesses sharp.

Beacon Gets New Bright Yellow Crosswalk Signs

Beacon’s Main Street has been getting attention from Mayor Lee Kyriacou’s administration. From real estate zoning overhauls to street signage, some changes have been made. Most recently, the sidewalk “bump-outs” which are the circular extensions into the street that the City Administrator Chris White argues, during recent City Council meetings, will reduce traffic speeds, and act as a benefit to emergency vehicles who can now drive over them when turning a tight corner. Additionally, he said, a car may not be parked so close to the street corner, now that the bump-outs are there, making turning easier, with one less parked vehicle in the way.

Once the cement set on all of the bump-outs, new signage went in. Namely, yellow crosswalk signs. Hurrah! But no new painted cross-walk lines were done, as paving of Main Street was scheduled for October, but was canceled in November.

According to a press release on the City of Beacon’s website: “The City has also been investing in pedestrian and cyclist safety throughout the City. Immediately upon taking office in 2020, Mayor Kyriacou formed a Main Street Access Advisory Committee made up of residents. The Committee was instrumental in the upcoming installation of stop signs and way finding signage along the Main Street corridor.”

It is unknown at this time what project or budget line item the crosswalks were part of, as the Main Street Access Advisory Committee leader Stowe Boyd indicated that these particular crosswalk signs were not part of their first phase of new signage that aims to make finding one’s way around Beacon easier. Their focus was on adding street signs to intersections were no street signs exist, stop signs along Main Street intersections, and better free parking signs for municipal lots.

Colleen Pillus, Communication Director for the Dutchess County Executive Marcus Molinaro confirmed that the bump-outs were federally funded, and could not confirm source of funding for the crosswalk signs. Sometimes sidewalk or street sign projects come from different grant funds from federal or county budgets, and in our reporting, we like to indicate which ones.

Beacon’s City Administrator Chris White did not respond to ALBB’s questions seeking funding or design confirmation on the bump-outs. Perhaps you can find out?

Questions that were sent to City Administrator Chris last week:

1. When and if did Beacon apply for federal funds for the bump-outs?

2. What were the start and end dates of the project?

3. Can you send the final design for the bump-outs that were approved by the City of Beacon and were submitted to the people creating the bump-outs?

4. What if any accessibility expert was used as a resource for designing the bump-outs?

5. Who paved the bump-outs? What company and were any city employees involved in any aspect? If so, which ones?

6. The yellow cross-walk signs that were recently installed: where did that funding come from? What company installed them or were they installed by city employees?

If you have positive or negative experience with crossing Main Street with the new bump-outs and/or yellow crosswalk signs, let us know in the comments below.