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Pedestrian Deaths on the Rise in Ohio
By: Shelby Dermer
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When did something so simple become so difficult?
With more walkers looking down at their phones rather than up at traffic and more drivers not paying attention to walkers and bikers, pedestrian deaths are way up in Ohio.
The Columbus Dispatch reports, fatal pedestrian accidents in Ohio more than doubled in the first six months of 2015 compared to all of 2014. Ohio was one of 26 states to see an increase in pedestrian deaths in the first half of 2015.
Although rated the fifth safest state in the country by the Huffington Post in May 2016, Ohio’s 124-percent jump in pedestrian fatalities in the first six months of 2015, compared to the same span in 2014, was the highest rise in the country. The average increase for states was only six percent.
Distracted walkers
The Governors Highway Safety Association claims that the growing use of smart phones is a key contributor to distracted pedestrians. In a college town like Athens, it’s easy to confirm the accuracy behind that hypothesis.
Tom Pyle, Athens’ Police Chief, says it’s not difficult to find distracted walkers on the brick streets of this quiet southeastern Ohio college campus.
“I’m talking general people have headphones in, they’re looking at their phones and walking, which is dangerous to do especially when you’re around traffic,” Pyle said.
In big cities like Toledo, Cleveland, and Columbus, pedestrians are more aware of their surroundings with increased traffic. But on a college campus, it seems the roles are reversed. Pyle says, the pressure is now on the driver to pay attention to the pedestrian and drivers in Athens respond to that pressure, avoiding the walker who seems more concerned with a five-inch phone screen when crossing an intersection than the 4,000 pound vehicles passing them at high speeds.
A recent study shows that walkers who are texting are 60 percent more likely to veer off their walking path and into harm’s way compared to non-texting pedestrians.
But these pedestrian statistics are not limited to walkers. Ashley Rittenhouse of the Ohio Department of Transportation clarified that a pedestrian death is, “anytime a person is out walking alongside the road or on the road and they unfortunately get hit by a vehicle resulting in death. For our purposes, we also include cyclists in our pedestrian fatalities numbers.”
In 2015, Ohio was ranked the 16th best biker-friendly state, edging all but one of its five border states.
Complete Streets
Complete Streets is a community advocacy group designed to “enable safe access for all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and transit riders of all ages and abilities.”
Since the group’s ideas and proposals were introduced in 2004, more than a thousand communities have adopted their approach to designing safer streets and intersections. Peter Kotses, owner of Athens Bicycle, is a member of Complete Streets, and praised the organization for looking for new ways to design outdated roads.
“The biggest thing that I feel a city is, is streets and people,” Kotses said, “when you walk out the door, it’s (streets) the first thing you come in contact with. So, I think if we can make those better, the citizens get a better product.”
With Complete Streets pushing for safer road conditions for pedestrians and drivers, Athens has obliged, with plans to construct an additional sidewalk to East State St. 40 percent of Ohio’s pedestrian fatalities from 2005 through 2014 happened where no sidewalk was available.
“The sidewalk is part of an economic development plan,” Pyle said, “it’s part of an improvement plan and so anytime we can establish a sidewalk in an area like that, I think we’re doing the right thing.”
The number of pedestrian fatalities may be increasing, but most of the deaths are happening in bigger cities. In District 10, an area covering nine counties in southeast Ohio, there were just 15 pedestrian deaths from 2012 to 2016. Of the 15, four occurred in Athens county and one was a cyclist. Rittenhouse explained why this district has seen relatively low numbers in pedestrian deaths.
“With our terrain and the way it’s laid out and the way geographically the way it is in District 10, we have some cities: we have Marietta, we have Athens, but there’s not a lot of places for people to be out walking like there are in Columbus,” she said.
Tips for pedestrians
Ohio invests $4 million annually on sidewalk projects to increase pedestrian safety and spent $141 million from 2010-2014 on bikeways, paths, countdown crossings, and displays, but there are still zero-cost precautions that walkers and cyclists can follow to ensure their protection on the roadways.
“I’d recommend that people think back to their younger days when they were taught to look both ways before you cross the street,” Rittenhouse explained, “listen for oncoming traffic as well, and if you have to be out walking at night, certainly wear that reflective clothing.”
Wearing clothes that standout is often overlooked. In 2014, almost half of the pedestrian deaths in Ohio were in the last three months of the year when it gets darker sooner. It’s also important in the summer months, when more walkers and peddlers are taking advantage of the warmer weather.
Pyle put his guidance in layman’s terms – pay attention.
“The same advice I would give to pedestrians is the same advice I’d give to somebody who wants to protect themselves from a victim of a crime … keep your head up instead of down,” the Chief warned, “if you are about to cross the street you definitely don’t want to do it looking at your cell phone, just take the time to look up.”