October is Pedestrian Safety Month, and the non-profit Drive Safe Hampton Roads is asking drivers and pedestrians to be mindful, particularly as it’s starting to get dark earlier.
76% of pedestrian traffic fatalities in 2024 happened in the dark. Pedestrian deaths have also become too common in recent years — there have been 19 fatalities so far this year in Hampton Roads, and 321 injuries. Mary Ann Rayment works with Drive Safe Hampton Roads, and says those numbers are concerning.
"Injuries generally are higher than the fatalities are, and those can be the lifelong damages too," Rayment said.
Fatalities have risen nationally in the last decade, though there’s been a slight downward trend this year.
Rayment said that’s a great thing, and points to awareness campaigns and changes in engineering for the improvement.
"There are flashing lights, there are raised crosswalks, things like that have also really helped to reduce the the number of serious injuries and fatalities,” she said.
At the same time, pedestrian-involved crashes are trending more deadly. Light trucks and SUVs are more and more common on the roads, and studies have shown they are more likely to kill pedestrians.
Rayment said safety goes both ways: pedestrians need to look where they're walking, cross at crosswalks and try to wear bright clothing if they're walking at night.
Drivers can help by always driving sober, looking out for pedestrians and always stopping for pedestrians at crosswalks. And if other cars are stopped at a crosswalk, it's important for traffic in the other lanes to stop too: there may be a pedestrian crossing who you can't see.
As school starts and Halloween approaches, Rayment said drivers need to be extra careful.
"There's a lot of kids in the crosswalks, and we're getting ready to have trick or treating with Halloween. So you're going to see a lot more small pedestrians out there, and they're not always as good at judgment as we are," she said. "They're little and they're younger, so we need to make sure that we are following speed limits and that we are really aware, particularly in neighborhoods, of where there might be children around."
