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If you are the type of person who enjoys going for a walk for exercise or just to get from one place to another, there's a sad fact you probably need to be aware of:
There are 18 people who go for a walk each day and don't make it back to their home because of preventable crashes.
That's according to Jonathan Adkins, the chief executive officer of the Governors Highway Safety Association.
The comments from Adkins were included in an overview of the association's Spotlight on Highway Safety report on Pedestrian Traffic Fatalities by State that was issued near the end of February. It covered pedestrian traffic deaths from January through June 2023 based on data from the state highway safety offices.
Numbers contained in the report were troubling -- they showed that 3,373 people had been struck and killed by drivers during that period. A good takeaway was that number was lower than the previous year by 4 percent.
There's no getting around the fact that pedestrians and vehicles can be a bad combination, and the 7,500 pedestrians killed in 2022 represented a four-decade high and a 14 percent increase above the totals from 2019.
Among the good news in the report was that based on the preliminary numbers from 2023, pedestrian fatalities dropped in 29 states, including Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, the association said.
In Ohio, the 2023 adjusted numbers estimated there would be 67 pedestrian fatalities, down one from the 68 actual deaths reported in 2022. West Virginia's 2023 adjusted number also showed a decrease of one -- to nine in 2023 from 10 in 2022. Pennsylvania's numbers were even more impressive: The adjusted 2023 total of 76 represented a more than 10 percent drop from the 85 deaths reported in 2022.
Looking back to 2019 presents a mixed bag, according to the association, a nonprofit that represents the highway safety offices of states, territories, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
Ohio's numbers increased to 67 from 60 deaths reported in 2019. West Virginia's number dropped to nine in 2023 from 12 in 2019, and Pennsylvania's numbers were nearly identical -- 77 in 2019 and 76 in 2023.
Rates based on 100,000 population show there's not that big of a difference in the Tri-State Area. In West Virginia, that number for 2023 came in at 0.51. In Ohio, it was 0.57 and in Pennsylvania it was 0.59.
All of which leaves questions about what can be done to make things safer for pedestrians, and that, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, means looking for ways to prevent accidents and minimizing harm when they do happen. That, the department says, means improving visibility along roadways, slowing traffic and building safer road crossings.
All of the factors are important because, according to the GHSA, only 22 percent of pedestrian deaths happen at intersections.
We're already seeing some of those steps being used in our area. Look at the work being done on the Lovers Lane widening project, for example. Included will be the installation of a sidewalk on the west side of the street from the roundabout at Fort Steuben Drive to Sunset Boulevard.
Anyone who has tried to walk in that area or has just been observant knows the road never has had a sidewalk, and those who have tried to walk in that area have had to navigate a well-worn path that in some parts crossed the front yards of houses.
That means that while the wider lanes the rebuilt Lovers Lane will feature will be safe for motorists, the sidewalk will make it safer for pedestrians to walk through that area as well.
Improved sidewalks also could be coming along the stretch of Sunset Boulevard that runs from Welday Street to John Scott Highway if the city's plans go forward. Included in a proposal that would reduce that section to one lane in either direction with a turning lane in the middle is an expansion of the sidewalks from their current width of 4 feet, City Engineer Mike Dolak told members of the Steubenville Rotary Club during a presentation earlier this year.
Dolak discussed the issue with members of City Council during a committee meeting Tuesday night
The plan is likely to generate a lot of interest from residents during the next few weeks.
It's all a part of making it safer for everyone to get around, no matter how you choose to do so.
(Gallabrese, a resident of Steubenville, is executive editor of the Herald-Star and The Weirton Daily Times.)