Unsafe to be a Pedestrian in Pennsylvania
By Bob Small
On Tuesday Night of April seventeenth of this year, seventeen year old Damien Hocker was run over while crossing the intersection of Fairview and Macdade in Ridley.
While shopping in Swarthmore, we saw this petition for pedestriansafety , with Damien’s photo. This has been organized by his father, Doug Hocker. They are requesting the following changes; creation of footbridges at two intersections on Macdade, more pedestrian crosswalks, “Enforce existing laws for both drivers and pedestrians “, and the banning of drivers using cellphones, among others. This should be seen as the beginning of the discussion.
In Philadelphia this year there were 65 total traffic deaths, 30 of them pedestrians, as per the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, and these fatalities led to their petition demanding concrete barriers, which over 5,000 people have signed.. Other demands include replacing “no parking” signage with “no stopping” signs, etc.
The next change.org petition originates in Newark, Delaware, where we now visit two of our longtime movement friends. This is also the home of the University of Delaware where Noellia Gomez, an 18- year old freshman, was recently killed by a speeding motorcyclist. This petition — Ensuring Pedestrian Safety for University of Delaware — requests improvement of the bus service and visibility of the traffic lights, etc.
Pennsylvania is the 35th listed state for pedestrian safet while Philadelphia is listed as number 6.
This is a problem but we need to consider how we try and make the streets safer for pedestrians, while not unduly burdening drivers of all vehicles. We have to also consider how much of this is the personal responsibilities of both drivers and pedestrians, i.e. driving and walking while aware and sober. We also have to decide how much is required of government and vehicle makers.
It’s also mentioned, in this article, that “Pedestrian deaths rose a staggering 77% between 2010 and 2022, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) data, while all other traffic fatalities increased just 22%.”
Dating myself, as Sargeant Phil Esterhaus used to say in “Hill Street Blues”., “Be careful out there”.
Unsafe to be a Pedestrian in Pennsylvania