Safer roads for all
Better decisions needed to prevent pedestrian, cyclists deaths
Family and friends of 23-year-old James Beckles IV gathered this week to celebrate his all-too-short life and mourn his tragic death. Beckles was killed by a motorist as he rode his bicycle through the intersection of Lynnhaven Parkway and Princess Anne Road on Feb. 20.
Our region has seen far too many pedestrians and cyclists killed on roadways, part of an alarming trend across the commonwealth. Everyone — those on foot, those on bikes and especially those behind the wheel — must be more attentive and cautious to ensure safer public streets.
The Virginia State Police sounded the alarm this week about a worrisome uptick of pedestrian deaths on commonwealth roadways. In a news release, the VSP highlighted 11 fatalities between Feb. 11 and
Feb. 25 that happened in the counties of Greensville, Prince William (2), Henrico, Chesterfield, Albemarle, Fairfax, Pittsylvania, Loudoun, Wythe and the city of Virginia Beach.
Even that snapshot of a two-week period shows that accidents can occur in both urban and rural settings — places where traffic planning and roadway lighting may be limited, and those that have been carefully engineered and are well illuminated.
Those 11 fatalities are among the 19 total pedestrian deaths recorded in Virginia so far this year. Preliminary VSP data found
118 pedestrians died in 2023, which is a vast improvement over the 182 (171 pedestrians, 11 bicyclists) who were killed on Virginia roadways in 2022, according to Drive Smart Virginia. An additional 529 cyclists and 1,390 pedestrians were injured in crashes that year.
The VSP release this week follows a familiar pattern of raising alarm about this issue by suggesting ways in which pedestrians can increase their personal safety. These include being predictable in movements and obeying traffic signals, dressing “to be seen” by wearing reflective clothing and carrying a flashlight, and walking on sidewalks facing traffic.
That’s all well and good, of course, and certainly pedestrians should be smart
when walking along busy thoroughfares. They should also cross at well-lit crosswalks and be hyper-aware of nearby motorists.
The same goes for cyclists, who typically travel on the roads with vehicles — a more dangerous exercise. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recommends that bicyclists ride with the flow of traffic, obey all road signs and “drive defensively” when traveling, among other suggestions.
However, the message that typically accompanies the death of a pedestrian or cyclist too often ignores the behavior of motorists who, after all, are operating something that weighs about 4,000 pounds on average.
To its credit, the VSP tacked a few notes on the end of its release, urging drivers to always look for and yield to pedestrians, to use extra caution in hard-to-see conditions, at intersections and in school zones, and to use extra caution when backing up.
The message that bears repeating, over and over and over again, should be this: Slow down.
The American Automobile Association’s Foundation for Traffic Safety found in 2011 that the “average risk of death for a pedestrian reaches 10% at an impact speed of 23 mph, 25% at 32 mph, 50% at 42 mph, 75% at 50 mph, and 90% at 58 mph.” Other factors play a role, but the data makes clear that a crash at even modest speeds involving a pedestrian or cyclist will likely be fatal.
Yes, there are plenty of other things we can do, such as make our communities more walkable and bike-friendly and to engineer our roadways with clear lines of sight and plenty of illumination at intersections. Reducing vehicles’ size and weight would make a big difference as well, as unlikely as that is, as would lowering speed limits and raising speeding penalties.
But driving a little slower gives everyone — motorists, pedestrians and cyclists — additional time to prevent a tragedy. While we all have a role to play in improving road safety, easing up on the accelerator is the easiest, and arguably the most effective, solution.