Nearly 250 people were hit by cars in Raleigh in 2019
Nearly 250 people were hit by cars in 2019 throughout Raleigh.
And a record 50 of those collisions caused fatal or serious injuries.
“The sad thing is we are not alone from this standpoint,” said Eric Lamb, Raleigh’s transportation planning manager. “Pedestrian deaths have been rising steadily across the country.”
And pedestrian deaths continue to rise across North Carolina, The News & Observer has reported.
On Tuesday Lamb outlined for the City Council the safety measures the city has taken to address pedestrian and bicycle crashes dating back to when the area ranked as one of the most unsafe areas in the nation.
Raleigh’s efforts were jump-started after a critical report in 2009. The Raleigh-Cary Metro Area — which includes all of Wake, Johnston and Franklin counties — was ranked the sixth most dangerous region for pedestrians in the United States.
That led to the city’s creating its first Bicycle and Pedestrian Commission and hiring a staff member with a sole focus on pedestrians and bicycle transit in the city, Lamb said.
“One of the things we are worried about is the number of fatal and debilitating crashes that take place on an annual basis,” he said.
Still, serious or fatal pedestrian crashes have increased. The number usually ranged from 11 at its lowest in 2009 and 2014 to 25 in 2016. However, serious crashes jumped to 39 in 2017, 30 in 2018 and up to 50 in 2019.
When the crash data is compared to the population increase in the city, the rate remains relatively steady, but last year was still Raleigh’s worst for the number of pedestrian crashes and serious crashes, according to the Lamb’s presentation.
“Any way you cut it, 2019 was not a good year for pedestrians in the city,” Lamb said. “And we are serious about making changes to improve that.”
Lamb also highlighted the following streets that had the most pedestrian crashes from 2016 through 2018.
- New Bern Avenue
- Capital Boulevard
- Hillsborough Street
- Blount Street
- Falls of Neuse/Wake Forest
- Rock Quarry Road
- Wilmington Street
- McDowell Street
- Poole Road
- Davie Street
When sorted by crash per mile, the downtown Raleigh streets like McDowell and Dawson rose to the top.
Vision Zero plan
One strategy the city is considering is the Vision Zero program, which aims to eliminate traffic fatalities and severe injuries.
“One thing that I think will have an immeasurable impact will actually be implementing a Vision Zero plan,” said Council member Jonathan Melton. “I know there was a comment that the trade-off is going to be inconveniencing some cars or drivers at some point, but I think that’s fine.”
Cities have historically inconvenienced pedestrians and bicyclists at the expense of drivers, he said.
“If it starts to shift in the other direction I think that probably means we are finding our way to the middle,” he said.
The city should know within a month the cost to develop an assessment on what it will take for Raleigh to have a Vision Zero plan in Raleigh, Lamb said.
This story was corrected on Sept. 10, 2020.
This story was originally published September 9, 2020 at 1:46 PM.
