You push the button at the crosswalk, and wait. For what, some bozo to plow right through your path?
With the Stay Safe Crosswalk, (yeah, better name needed), cities can choose to barricade crosswalks while in use! For example, you push the button, and the sign tells you it's just fine to walk.
At this moment, a series of metal bars pop up on the lines of the crosswalk! Now cars just can't zip through the crosswalk!
Also keeps kids close at hand, keeping them *inside* the white lines. Cause they have to.
Oh, and nobody's getting away with just pushing the button and running off. The crossing will have sensors to see how long the person is walking for, and if anyone's really walking. Once they step on, the bars rise, once off, bars lower. Unless they take too long, and the sign is telling them they're out of time (flashing red), then the bars automaticly lower.
For the emergency response vehicles:
When you barrel down the road, sirens wailing, the crosswalk will use more of its sensors to hear you coming, even from ten seconds away! (Emergency response vehicles may be fitted with little message systems that alert all barricaded crosswalks of their approach).
Ten seconds is long enough to get the heck out of a crosswalk.
Tops of barricades will have lights so oncoming vehicles can see the barricade is up.