Pedestrian deaths on the rise on San Jose roadways
23 victims are among 51 traffic fatalities this year, far outpacing the national rate
SAN JOSE » Marking yet another grim statistic, a man who died from injuries after a car struck him last month became San Jose’s third pedestrian death in a five- day span, highlighting an especially deadly year for pedestrians on city streets.
It’s a frustrating trend for safety advocates, city transportation planners and police who have worked to make the city safer for pedestrians but face the daunting task of bringing calm to a bevy of expressways and thoroughfares that crisscross San Jose and bring highway speeds into densely populated neighborhoods and shopping centers.
The latest pedestrian death involved a 47-yearold man walking east on Los Gatos Almaden Road around 5:25 p.m. Nov. 15. As he walked in the crosswalk against a red light, a southbound 2017 Kia Niro hit him, San Jose police Officer Gina Tepoorten said.
The man was taken to a local hospital, and died
Wednesday, Tepoorten said. His name was not immediately released pending formal identification and notification of his next of kin. The 52-year- old man driving the Kia stopped and cooperated with investigators, Tepoorten said, adding that there is no evidence that the driver was impaired by drugs or alcohol. It was unclear whether the driver was speeding.
It marked the city’s 23rd pedestrian death this year. That matches the total reached in 2015, and is one shy of the 24 pedestrian deaths recorded in 2014, which was a 20-year high. There have been 51 total traffic fatalities in San Jose in 2018, including three bicyclists.
The year’s proportion of pedestrian victims, accounting for 45 percent of total roadway deaths, far outpaces the national rate of 16 percent. And that ratio is typical in San Jose, based on figures going back several years.
“When you look at the percentage of pedestrians being killed, it’s off the charts,” said Jaime Fearer, deputy director of California WALKS, an organization dedicated to improving walkability and pedestrian conditions in an array of cities in the state.
Fearer noted that even as traffic- calming measures gain favor — including increased bike lanes and lane narrowing — more attention needs to be paid to reducing speed, which is the prevailing factor in deadly collisions between a car and a pedestrian.
“It’s a public health cri- sis. We have to put human health and safety above moving cars,” she said. “It’s disappointing to have to continue to tell people not to wear black, carry a flashlight, and wear reflective gear. It’s frustrating to watch the conversation around scooters get so much attention when no one has been killed on a scooter.”
She was alluding to what police emphasize in promoting traffic safety. On the SJPD webpage detailing auto-pedestrian collisions, police list jaywalking, pedestrian inattention, nighttime visibility or lack of it, being under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and the dangers of multilane roadways as key factors.
“It’s just about paying attention,” SJPD traffic Sgt. John Carr said. “Assume they never see you or know you’re there. That goes for the car and the pedestrian.”
Colin Heyne, spokesman for the city’s Department of Transportation, said distracted driving, and walking, are often presumed to be at the root of many fatal collisions, but they tend to be difficult for police to prove, partly because police typically arrive after a crash.
“By the time police arrive, you’re relying on the truthfulness of drivers and witnesses,” he said. “But what we have seen year after year is that speed is the major factor in injury and major-injury crashes, and determines whether someone dies in a crash.”
So Heyne said his department centers much of its focus on speed, including installing traffic- calming measures to induce drivers to travel a “targeted speed” in a specific area, like upgrading bikeways to encourage more cycling, and installing trees and landscaping. In some instances, the city will reengineer a street, but that tends to be costly.
“The streets were designed a long time ago when the primary goal was to move vehicle traffic as quickly as possible. Now we’re talking about a balanced transportation system,” Heyne said.
San Jose is also launching a program to help people find their way around the city and show residents just how close — and walkable — some popular destinations are to each other.
Still, the white whale for traffic safety remains the 17 high-traffic corridors identified by the city’s Vision Zero program, which account for 3 percent of the city’s total street mileage but are where 50 percent of fatal crashes occur. Grant funding is either identified or being sought to fund traffic- calming measures on major streets including Jackson and McLaughlin avenues, and McKee, Monterey, Senter and Tully roads.
In addition to the man who died Wednesday, police are investigating two other traffic deaths since the weekend. Around 6 p. m. Saturday, 50- yearold Joan Crowley was crossing Quito Road near Northlawn Drive, a few blocks south of Westgate Center mall, when she was hit and killed by a 2018 Porsche, police said.
On Monday at 12:46 a.m., 29-year- old San Dimas resident Nicole Stanton was found lying on the road at North First and Rosemary streets. Police determined she was killed by a hit-and-run driver who has not been located.
Authorities also are monitoring the condition of a female pedestrian critically injured by a hit- and-run driver Wednesday morning near Anne Darling Elementary School. A second woman injured by the same driver is expected to survive. Police say a dark- colored sedan hit the women as they walked in a marked crosswalk at 33rd Street and Berrywood Drive, then sped away.
It was unknown whether speed was a factor in any of these collisions.
Anyone with information about the pedestrian death on Los Gatos Almaden Road can contact SJPD Detective Brian McMahon; information about the fatal hit- and- run on North First Street can contact Detective Troy Sirmons; both can be reached at 408-277- 4654.