Her son was only two months old when Georgette Jones was killed while crossing the street on the way to the convenience store across from her house in Washington, D.C. Now 6 years old, he has no memories of his mother. Fifteen-year-old Christina Ward was walking to school on Halloween morning seven years ago when she was struck by an SUV driver and died on Maryland Route 118 in Germantown, Maryland. It has been seven months since a driver crashed into Ren Werbin in an intersection in Arlington, Virginia. The crash shattered 19 vertebrae in her spine, broke her leg, collarbone, and shoulder, and landed her in the hospital for three months.
These gripping stories are the cornerstone of the new Street Smart campaign launched today by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) in the wake of a 14 percent spike in pedestrian fatalities between 2017 and 2018 in the metropolitan Washington area.
Each of the aforementioned crashes happened after dark when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that 76 percent of all pedestrian fatalities occur. Campaign partners warn that the Fall brings an increase in the number of pedestrians injured or killed when the end of Daylight Saving Time means it gets dark an hour earlier. Reports indicate pedestrian crashes in the metropolitan Washington region totaled 292 during November last year, the highest of any month.
“It’s important to realize that crashes have far-reaching consequences when someone is killed or seriously injured,” said Jeff Marootian, District Department of Transportation Director. “That’s why we’re urging people driving, walking, and biking to make safety a top priority and to look out for each other — especially as the daylight gets shorter this time of year. One careless mistake can make the difference between life and death.”
Today’s event at 12th Street and Florida Avenue NE, near the site of two fatal crashes in recent years, featured the unveiling of the new Street Smart testimonial wall that reveals the aftermath of pedestrian crashes as told by those affected firsthand. Visitors can watch videos to learn about the tragic repercussions of deadly and serious injury incidents. The wall will appear at outreach events in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia in the coming weeks.
View the Street Smart testimonial videos.
The Street Smart campaign offers safety tips for drivers, pedestrians, and bicyclists. The campaign’s key safety tips include reminders for drivers to obey the speed limit, be on the lookout for people walking and biking, stop for people crossing, and yield to pedestrians and bicyclists when turning. People walking are urged to cross with caution, use crosswalks where available, and wait for the walk signal. Bicyclists are reminded to follow the rules of the road and always use lights at night.
In conjunction with the campaign, area residents can expect increased enforcement of traffic safety laws that protect people walking and biking. Police departments across the region will be ticketing drivers who fail to obey the speed limit or don’t stop for people in crosswalks.
MORE: Learn more about Street Smart at BeStreetSmart.net and follow the program on Twitter at twitter.com/COGStreetSmart.
CONTACT:
Laura Ambrosio: lambrosio@mwcog.org, (202) 962-3278