Steering toward a safer Baltimore

Yet another traffic incident occurred in Charles Village last night, this time at the intersection of Art Museum Drive and North Charles Street. A vehicle crashed into and damaged two parked cars and then proceeded to drive off with its front fender dragging on the street.

Hopkins police stopped the runaway vehicle almost immediately and removed the driver from the car in front of Charles Street Market at 34th street.

This incident follows a series of motor accidents in recent years, which have caused the tragic deaths of two students. One of these students was killed by a drunk driver who had a warrant out for his arrest.

Hopkins has responded well to the chain of accidents with an increased presence around the neighborhood, particularly in front of Barnes & Noble (the scene of another hit and run last year).

Last night's events support the notion that Hopkins is prioritizing safety and taking the situation seriously. The driver was not able to flee the scene and Hopkins immediately alerted Baltimore police, who arrived shortly thereafter.

Clearly, some action needs to be taken by Baltimore to combat the dangerous driving climate in the city. Whether that means installing speed bumps and cameras or reworking the traffic lights, there are definitely suitable changes Baltimore can make in order to stop Charles Village and the city as a whole from being a hotbed of careless, dangerous driving.

To this end, Baltimore is in the midst of making improvements through an initiative called Operation Orange Cone. Hopkins has teamed with this project to modify traffic patterns in Charles Village to make the area safer for pedestrians. However, the results of this project, to which Hopkins is contributed additional funds, are not guaranteed to be successful. At the very least, the area needs to be kept safe while the construction drags on.

We applaud Hopkins for taking this issue seriously, but attention to this matter cannot wane until accidents virtually cease in the area. Baltimore City shares the onus with Hopkins for making the streets safer and needs to solve this problem as soon as possible.