Pedestrian hit by two cars, dies

[Allison Slater]

Pedestrian hit by two cars, dies

Posted: Dec 12, 2007 07:45 AM

Updated: Dec 12, 2007 12:21 PM

Along Alpine Avenue, shortly after the 7 a.m. accident

...

Richard Sturgis Scott, 20, lived on Roger Street. Just after 7 a.m. Wednesday, right in front of the Lear plant south of West River Drive at Alpine and Roger, he tried to cross Alpine to get to the GRATA bus stop for a ride to work.

He was wearing dark clothes. As he tried to cross Alpine, a southbound car, driven by a woman from Coopersville, hit him. The car immediately behind that vehicle stopped, but a third vehicle went around them and struck the victim again.

...

[Raildudes dad]

http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=7485183

This is why I refuse to go anywhere near Alpine as a pedestrian. Sure he was wearing dark clothes, but if the road was well-lit surely that would not have been a problem. I tried driving down Alpine once years ago in winter during twilight and I couldn't even tell where the lanes were. I just sort of guessed, being unable to see anything but the massive mall/store signs on the sides of the roads as guides as to whether or not I was on the road. As the article goes on to mention, there is no crosswalk there (probably no sidewalk, either) and speed wasn't an issue. Hopefully this'll wake up planners in said areas to make such streets a bit safer for pedestrians.

Also, why are they still calling it GRATA? Wasn't that name dropped almost a decade ago?

[Allison Slater]

That must be further up the road than where I've been, then. I just remember driving out there once a couple years ago and it was really dark and difficult to navigate even as a driver.

[bwindi25]

This is really horrific.

When is this city (and townships) going to really work for pedestrians. A department called "traffic safety" is an oxymoron as far as I'm concerned. Several years ago, Seattle set a vision that they would have the fewest pedestrian deaths in the nation. That vision has guided their policy and changed their culture. People have to stop for a pedestrian wanting to cross the street. Every intersection has a crosswalk in the whole city. I've never heard anything close to that come out of the mouths of urban planners in West Michigan.

This data is a little old (2000), but you get the point.

Pedestrian deaths per 100,000 people

The large cities with the lowest pedestrian fatality rates were:

* No. 1: Seattle, Wash.: Rate 1.01 (Fatalities: 6)

* No. 2: Indianapolis, Ind.: Rate 1.09 (Fatalities 9)

* No. 3: Columbus, Ohio: Rate 1.41 (Fatalities: 10)

* No. 4: Milwaukee: Wis.: Rate 1.45 (Fatalities 9)

* No. 5: Oklahoma City: Okla.: Rate 1.78 (Fatalities 9)

The large cities with the highest pedestrian fatality rates were:

* No. 1: Detroit, Mich.: Rate 5.05 (Fatalities 48)

* No. 2: Denver, Colo.: Rate 4.21 (Fatalities 23)

* No. 3: Phoenix, Ariz: Rate 3.89 (Fatalities 51)

* No. 4: San Francisco, Calif.: Rate 3.82 (Fatalities 30)

* No. 5: Dallas, Texas: Rate 3.51 (Fatalities 42)

[Raildudes dad]

This is really horrific.

When is this city (and townships) going to really work for pedestrians. A department called "traffic safety" is an oxymoron as far as I'm concerned. Several years ago, Seattle set a vision that they would have the fewest pedestrian deaths in the nation. That vision has guided their policy and changed their culture. People have to stop for a pedestrian wanting to cross the street. Every intersection has a crosswalk in the whole city. I've never heard anything close to that come out of the mouths of urban planners in West Michigan.

This data is a little old (2000), but you get the point.

Pedestrian deaths per 100,000 people

The large cities with the lowest pedestrian fatality rates were:

* No. 1: Seattle, Wash.: Rate 1.01 (Fatalities: 6)

* No. 2: Indianapolis, Ind.: Rate 1.09 (Fatalities 9)

* No. 3: Columbus, Ohio: Rate 1.41 (Fatalities: 10)

* No. 4: Milwaukee: Wis.: Rate 1.45 (Fatalities 9)

* No. 5: Oklahoma City: Okla.: Rate 1.78 (Fatalities 9)

The large cities with the highest pedestrian fatality rates were:

* No. 1: Detroit, Mich.: Rate 5.05 (Fatalities 48)

* No. 2: Denver, Colo.: Rate 4.21 (Fatalities 23)

* No. 3: Phoenix, Ariz: Rate 3.89 (Fatalities 51)

* No. 4: San Francisco, Calif.: Rate 3.82 (Fatalities 30)

* No. 5: Dallas, Texas: Rate 3.51 (Fatalities 42)

[Veloise]

There is an existing traffic signal with pedestrian buttons approximately 200 feet from from the accident site. That signal is in the process of being relocated to the intersection at the accident site due to the new street constructed to the renovated GM plant on the east side. Both Alpine and Rogers have sidewalks on both sides of the street. There is a street light directly over the bus stop. I drive this stretch every morning to work, traffic isn't that heavy, some times it's actually quite light. That morning it was dark and raining. I don't know what else "the city" could have done to prevent this accident.