(WWJ) -- As the number of pedestrian crashes increases in Michigan, police across the state are taking action to keep both pedestrians and drivers safe.
As a part of the Pedestrian Safety Enforcement Week, officers across the state will be looking for drivers who don’t look out for pedestrians, as well as walkers who don’t use crosswalks in the cities of Detroit, Warren, Ann Arbor, Lansing and Kalamazoo.
The Office of Highway Safety Planning says overtime mobilization grants have been awarded to law enforcement agencies in those cities to address “the alarming rise in pedestrian injuries and fatalities on the state’s roadways.”
Those cities have seen some of the highest numbers when it comes to pedestrian-involved crashes over the last five years, officials say.
From 2016 to 2020, pedestrian crash data for the five Michigan cities show Detroit with 541 pedestrian-involved fatal or serious injury crashes, Lansing with 57, Kalamazoo with 56, Warren with 47 and Ann Arbor with 40.
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Last year there were 1,343 pedestrian injuries and 175 pedestrian fatalities statewide last year, according to OHSP.
Pedestrian Safety Enforcement Week comes at an important time, as more pedestrians have been killed in October than any other month over the last five years. October also has the most pedestrian-involved crashes for the same period.
Just last week a student at Stoney Creek High School was hit by a fellow student and later died in the hospital. Earlier this month, five pedestrians were struck and killed in metro Detroit alone. Two of the victims were sister-in-laws who were out celebrating Sweetest Day with a “girls night out.”
OHSP’s Nancy Feldbush tells WWJ that officers will be “looking for anything that’s applicable to aspects for pedestrian safety.” That includes drivers who fail to yield to pedestrians or stop at signals, as well as pedestrians who don’t use crosswalks.
The enforcement campaign is supported with federal traffic safety funds provided by the United States Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and coordinated by the OHSP.
The office offers some safety tips for pedestrians, including using sidewalks whenever available, obeying traffic signals, signs and markings and crossing streets at a corner, using traffic signals and crosswalks whenever possible.
If you must walk along the roadway, officials say you should always walk facing traffic and as far to the left as possible.
Safety tips for drivers include avoiding distractions, obeying traffic signals, signs and markings, yielding to pedestrians and obeying the speed limit.
More information and pedestrian safety tips can be found at michigan.gov/walksafe.
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