Enlarge By Robert Craig, The (Wilmington) News Journal Charlie Clark, left, and Richard Adcox paint a crosswalk to accompany a new traffic signal on Route 72 in Newark, Del. As a freshman at the University of Delaware, Caitlin Gormley had to dash across a busy two-lane road to reach her Introduction to Animal Science lab on a research farm south of campus. "I tried once on my bike, but I felt uncomfortable so I stopped after that," said Gormley, 20, now a junior pre-veterinary medicine major who drives to the farm. "It was pretty scary." A new kind of traffic signal in Delaware, the High-intensity Activated Cross Walk, or HAWK, became active Friday and will make crossing Delaware 72 safer for students beginning this semester, state transportation officials say. FLORIDA: Deadliest state for walkers, cyclists BROADWAY: Pedestrian plazas made permanent TRAIL NEEDS: City planners track cyclists, pedestrians Delaware joins a growing number of states and cities around the country, including Georgia, Minnesota, Virginia and Arizona, with HAWK signals that allow people to cross a busy road, either at an intersection without a standard traffic signal or in the middle of a long stretch of road. Several are scheduled to be installed in Georgia, in and around Atlanta, this month. Tempe, Ariz., added them in February. Developed about a decade ago by city traffic engineers in Tucson, but in limited use until recently, the signal stays dark until a pedestrian or bicyclist wants to cross. They press a button, and the overhead signals flash yellow lights, followed by a solid yellow and a solid red, stopping traffic so the person can cross. "Drivers get that: Red means stop," said Mark Luszcz, assistant chief traffic engineer with the Delaware Department of Transportation. The solid red light is followed by flashing red lights, allowing drivers to proceed if the crosswalk is clear. The signal then goes dark again and traffic flows freely. Researchers with the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University last year compared before-and-after accident data at 21 HAWK sites in Tucson and found a 13% to 29% reduction in all crashes and a 50% drop in pedestrian accidents. Until earlier this year, states needed special permission from the Federal Highway Administration to install HAWKs, agency spokeswoman Cathy St. Denis said. But the signals have proved their value in protecting pedestrians, so the agency included them in its revised standards manual, published in January, she said. "We haven't done many of these in Georgia, but we're beginning to ramp up now," said Mark McKinnon, spokesman for the Georgia Department of Transportation. "Ideally, we'd love to put them in a lot of places." Georgia has installed a few HAWKs around the state and is scheduled to activate eight more in about a week, McKinnon said. The signals, which cost about $120,000 each, are along two stretches of major roads, each with pedestrians trying to cross several lanes of traffic, he said. Earlier this year, engineers in Tempe installed two HAWK signals on roads near the Western Canal, which has a popular bicycle and pedestrian trail. Drivers don't always stop when they're supposed to, said Tempe resident Richard Wright, who regularly runs the trail. "I'd advise anyone not to jump out there as soon as the light (turns)," Wright said. In 2008 in Alexandria, Va., engineers installed a HAWK at a T intersection where a four-lane road separates a residential area from a bus stop. Alexandria has identified a dozen more places that could benefit from HAWK signals, according to the city's website. Engineers in St. Cloud, Minn., installed a HAWK last year along Highway 23, a major artery through the city, said Blake Redfield, the city's traffic systems manager. A public library sits on one side of the highway, while a high school and public park sit on the other. "There just were no gaps in the traffic for someone to safely make it across the highway," Redfield said. The HAWK's yellow and red lights catch drivers' attention better than a simple crosswalk sign, he said. "It kind of knocks your socks off from a visibility standpoint," Redfield said. In Alaska, the state installed a HAWK signal near a Juneau middle school late last year, said Roger Wetherell, spokesman for the state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities. The signal has made it safer for students to cross the road, he said. The signals confuse some drivers who have never encountered them before, Redfield said. The most common issue is that drivers don't realize the flashing red lights mean they can proceed if the crosswalk is clear, Redfield said. Better signs have helped clear that up, he said. In Georgia, some drivers saw the dark signal and thought the power was out, so they treated it as a four-way stop sign, McKinnon said. As the signals become more common, fewer drivers will be confused, he said. "People catch on pretty quickly," McKinnon said. Contributing: Georgann Yara and Dianna Nanez, The Arizona Republic Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. 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