Pedestrian deaths are up across the nation and here in Georgia.  Chattooga County recorded the fourth pedestrian death of 2022 last week when a fifty-seven-year-old man was attempting to cross Highway 27 near Dot Johnson Drive.

The Georgia State Patrol post in Rome released a preliminary report that said shortly after 7 AM last Friday,  a Jeep Wrangler was traveling north on 27 in the central turn lane prior to turning left onto Dot Johnson Drive, when the vehicle struck and killed Lee.

Georgia currently ranks 9th as the deadliest state in the nation for pedestrian fatalities. In 2021, the number of pedestrian traffic fatalities in The Peach State increased by 45.6% from 2019 and 23.8% from 2020, according to an analysis from the Governors Highway Safety Association.

Chattooga County Sheriff Mark Schrader told WZQZ News that there is not one underlying factor that connects all four pedestrian deaths this year.  But the sheriff also added that in two of the pedestrian deaths – including the most recent – pedestrians were not using designated crosswalks even though the crosswalks were less than 100 feet from where the accidents happened.

In 1995 the Georgia legislature changed the crosswalk law.  Drivers must “stop and stay stopped” for pedestrians in crosswalks, not just yield to them. Motorists must stop when pedestrians are anywhere on their side of the road or if they’re approaching and within one lane of the driver’s side of the road.

Pedestrian safety is a two-way street. Crosswalks increase safety. In most places, crossing outside a crosswalk is legal. But doing so may be unsafe.  Drivers must also use caution in areas where people are frequently crossing the road. The faster a motorist drives, the more likely he or she is to be in a crash, and the more likely injuries to a person on foot will be serious, if not fatal.

(PEDS.org)