The deadliest roads in America are in the suburbs

More pedestrians die on suburban roadways than on congested city streets, and most die in the poorer suburbs than in the leafy ones. 

Last week's hit and run crash in Woodlawn was indicative: A pregnant women and a 12 year old girl tried to cross North Rolling Road near Security Square Mall and were hit by a car whose driver never stopped. The girl was killed, the woman hospitalized. The newspaper note was sparse:

nationwide rise of pedestrian fatalities 

A 12-year-old girl was killed and a pregnant woman was injured Friday evening in a hit-and-run crash on North Rolling Road in Catonsville, Baltimore County police said. [..]The victims were crossing North Rolling Road at Johnnycake Road when they were struck at about 9:20 p.m., police said.
Police are seeking the driver, who made no attempt to stop, police said. (Baltimore SUN)

The site reveals how it could have been: There are two bus stops on the south side of the intersection but the only signalized crosswalk is on the north side. The poorly marked crosswalk requires that the pedestrian activates the walk signal with a push button. The intersection is poorly lit and sits immediately next to a an underpass under I-70 which impedes sight distance. The speed limit is 35mph but most drivers go considerably faster, especially once they glimpse the green light beyond the underpass. 

Anne Arundel County Police said Monday that a 15-year-old boy who was struck in a hit-and-run accident in Pasadena on Friday night has died.
Skylar Marion, 15, of Pasadena, had been walking along Mountain Road — a dangerous roadway with a long history of fatalities — with two other juveniles at about 9:25 p.m. when he and a 13-year-old girl from Clearwater Beach were struck by a passing vehicle. (Baltimore SUN)

North Rolling Road and Johnnycake: A 12 year girl was killed here

A 72-year-old man was killed in a pedestrian-involved crash Tuesday night, Baltimore County Police said.
A pedestrian, identified as Mohamed Hamid Idries Hassan, of the 600 block of Walker Ave., was crossing Loch Raven Boulevard near Sayward Avenue around 9:30 p.m., when he was hit by a 2003 Chevrolet Tahoe traveling northbound, police said. (Baltimore SUN)

The three short notes about suburban tragedies in which pedestrians were killed have one thing in common, the time of the crash. It was after dark when visibility is poor and the number of impaired drivers is high. At a time when the only people walking are those too young, too old or too poor to have a car at their disposal. They all died because the suburban world is not made for them.

A tragedy for sure and very sad that something like this had to happen to, hopefully, get Baltimore county to take some action.  Rolling Rd. Has become a speedway.(Resident in response to a NextDoor posting about the crash)

A pedestrian walking along a busy arterial road at night is not part of the design manual for those highways with its focus on a smooth flow of car traffic. In Maryland, 60 pedestrians were killed on roads during the first half of 2018, according to this report. That's a 25 percent increase compared to the first half of 2017.

More and bigger vehicles: More  pedestrian fatalities

In recent years, the number of pedestrian fatalities in the United States has grown sharply. During the 10-year period from 2008 to 2017, the number of pedestrian fatalities increased by 35 percent (from 4,414 deaths in 2008 to 5,977 deaths in 2017); meanwhile, the combined number of all other traffic deaths declined by six percent. Along with the increase in the number of pedestrian fatalities, pedestrian deaths as a percentage of total motor vehicle crash deaths increased from 12 percent in 2008 to 16 percent in 2017. (Pedestrian Traffic Fatalities by State, GHSA 2019)

75% of pedestrians get killed after dark

Increased pedestrian fatalities are a national trend. The Governors Highway Safety Association reports that crashes killed 6,227 pedestrians in 2018, which represents an increase of 4 percent compared to 2017.

This trend has been going on for a decade: Over the past 10 years pedestrian fatalities have increased 35 percent the group states in the report, in the same period overall  traffic deaths declined 6 percent. This means, while people in their cars, trucks and SUVs get safer, in part thanks to fortification (heavier and bigger vehicles), pedestrians are more likely to become the victims.  The League of American Bicyclists, in a different recent report, published that 2016 was the deadliest year for pedestrians and bicyclists in a quarter century.

Maryland is among the States with relatively high pedestrian fatalities: It is among the 12 jurisdictions that reported pedestrian fatality rates of 1.0 or higher per 100,000 population. The deadliest state was New Mexico with 2.26 fatalities per 100,000 residents, Maryland’s was 1.00. Maryland's secretary of transportation served in various capacities in New Mexico before he came here.

Endangered species: Pedestrians

Many of the suburban roadways are wide, have high speed limits (40 or 45mph), many still don't have sidewalks and crosswalks are scarce. Where they exist, they are spaced so far apart that pedestrians will attempt to cross the roads in between where there are no signals or markings.

Many of the arterials are the responsibility of the State Highway Administration (SHA) many are local roads administered by the counties, which almost never have a transportation department (DOT), but maintain roads with the Department of Public Works (DPW). Transportation "planning", i.e. a course that does more than administering the status quo is foreign to those car-centric departments. Rolling Road is a Baltimore County artery which frequently takes on heavy traffic when the Baltimore Beltway is clogged. When adjacent community associations asked for measures to slow traffic to make it easier to turn in and out of side streets or back in from driveways, the County traffic engineers resisted citing the high numbers of vehicles on the road.

Contrary to what should be done, the engineering heavy approach of maintaining flow at all cost led to the recent widening of Rolling road a few miles further north towards  Liberty Road. There the former country road had still been a two-lane windy road. That every widening just makes this artery more an "outer beltway", further worsening the quality of life of residences lining the road on both sides, seems to elude the engineers. The newly elected County Executive Olszewski is currently advertising the new position of Transportation Director in the hope to get somebody in his department who understands the nexus between land use, community and transportation.

Typical suburban arterial: No safe way to cross

The State Highway Administration, like almost any highway entity in the country, works from standards in which pedestrians don't get amenities until they show up in sufficient numbers. (In technical lingo, until it is "warranted"). This is a conundrum pedestrians or bicyclists can't win. If not enough pedestrians can be counted taking their lives into their hands to reach a lone bus stop that has no sidewalk or no cross walk, no crosswalk or sidewalk will be installed. Or no bike-lane, or no signal. I liken this to counting swimmers crossing a river to determine the need for a bridge, obviously a nonsensical approach. 

No cross-walk, no ped signal and poor light on the south-side of the
fatal intersection of Rolling Road, no safety island and high speeds
All items that could easily be fixed

One can hope that the staggering numbers of pedestrian facilities will bring about a better awareness in all the new executives around Baltimore City and also in Baltimore's own DOT which is still grappling with how to implement the legislated "complete streets" bill. "Complete Streets" is the notion slowly taking root across the country, that streets are not only for cars and trucks, but that they represent a significant part of the public lands and are key for the safety and quality of life of entire neighborhoods and communities.

I a new regional approach, complete streets, land use, and transit need to play a major role. The suburbs can no longer remain the undisputed domain of driving as the only way of getting around. For pedestrian safety well illuminated crosswalks, safety islands, speed cameras and a complete set of pedestrian signals are needed at each signalized intersection.

There is such a need for this. So many use Rolling Rd to avoid Beltway backups. There may be businesses on RR, but it is mainly residential. So tired of going the speed limit and having cars pass me like I'm standing still. (Resident in response to a NextDoor posting about the crash)

It is high time to end the deadly spiral of people fleeing the older suburbs for quieter new digs in the outer periphery. It just brings more traffic and makes the inner suburbs less livable. By contrast, traffic calming, safer walking and smaller, slower streets increase quality of life in the older communities and will lead to less traffic.

Immediate and low budget pedestrians improvements should be installed in each case of a pedestrian crash.  With a new County District Court being constructed near the crash site on Rolling Road and the Beltway being widened as a result of State DOT's obsession with car centric transportation,  there it imperative that the County ends the concept of an "outer beltway" as a deadly high speed

Klaus Philipsen, FAIA