Does a double traffic signal in Palmerton present a safety hazard to pedestrians and motorists?

Some who travel through the borough's downtown believe the traffic light at Third Street and Delaware Avenue raises cause for concern.Contacted Thursday, Sean Brown, safety press officer for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, said that there have been two crashes reported along SR2002 (Delaware Avenue) that spans the five-year period from 2009-13.Alice Bernhard, an accounts payable clerk at Pencor Services, detailed an instance that occurred around the lunch hour several weeks ago.At the time Bernhard said she was stopped at the light at the corner of Third and Delaware waiting to turn right onto Delaware."There's a stop light before Third and a stop light after Third, (so) I went to pull out and I saw this car coming and he wasn't stopping, so then I stopped (about half way into the intersection)," Bernhard said. "He had to swerve around me to miss my car."Bernhard offered her take on that situation."I'm thinking he was looking at the second light," she said. "I usually wait a second to look; I know people don't stop."Don Herrmann, an accountant at Pencor, said he, too, finds the configuration to be disconcerting."It's a very confusing light," Herrmann said. "People don't pay attention anymore, they don't; it's very dangerous."Herrmann added, "People just don't care anymore; they're oblivious to what's going on.""It's a busy area there," he said. "You have the schools, kids crossing the street."Borough Manager Rodger Danielson said the matter has been brought to the borough's attention."I don't know why it's become an item as of late," Danielson said, "We've heard it from a couple of people."Danielson said that while the signals and lights are maintained by the borough, the timings are set by PennDOT."It's just an intersection that warrants a lot of attention," he said. "Probably anybody could tell you of an instance where they saw something happen there; (that) they've experienced that sudden start, stop."Danielson said the borough is open to any and all suggestions."If there's a better solution, we'd be happy to hear it," he said.