GULFPORT, Fla. - State and local traffic management agencies are constantly trying to find ways to make our walk, ride or drives safer. But how do we protect ourselves from - ourselves?

Sharon Taylor lives in Gulfport and every morning she drives a friend to work, using either 58th Street South or 49th Street South.

It's usually dark, and in one particular location where the trail crosses the street, she has noticed more and more trail users who don't press the button to safely cross the road.

"I started paying attention to that, every morning. They started doing it all the time. Every day, every day, every day, and I said to myself, ‘Why are they not pressing this button?’" Taylor said.

Real Time Traffic Expert Chuck Henson took cell video from the crossings on both 58th and 49th Street South. He wasn't at either place for more than 10 minutes at 3 o'clock in the afternoon before seeing four examples of what Sharon was talking about.

"And I worry about somebody getting hit. You know, a driver doesn't want to hit anybody, because if they do they're going to have that ton their conscious,” she said.

Taylor has tried to ask trail users to be safe and use the amber flashing beacons for their own protection, and the response has not been pleasant.

Henson reached out to both the St Petersburg and Gulfport police departments, and both said the same thing. The signals are in place, and they work. It's up to the trail user to engage them and then to wait until traffic comes to a full stop before crossing the roadway.

With the start of school you may see some selective safety enforcement, but it's really up to us.

Put yourself in Sharon's place - how she or any driver would feel seeing you dart across with no notice.

Be a safe trail user.