Pedestrian safety crisis signs going up in Indianapolis
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An advocacy group is behind new pedestrian safety signs going up around Indianapolis.
Why it matters: The city is averaging two incidents a day this year, according to Indianapolis Pedestrian Safety Crisis, which tracks injuries and deaths caused by vehicle crashes involving bicyclists and pedestrians.
- Each month this year has seen more crashes involving pedestrians and cyclists than the same time last year, according to the data.
Driving the news: Indianapolis Pedestrian Safety Crisis has started placing signs at dangerous and high-traffic intersections.
- At intersections where a pedestrian has been killed, the group is placing signs that read, "your neighbor was killed here."
- Other high-traffic intersections are getting signs that ask, "how many traffic fatalities are you comfortable with?"
- Each has a QR code that takes passerby to the group's website.
Reality check: The city does not allow signage in the public right-of-way.
What they're saying: "We're working under the assumption that the city is going to take them down," said group founder Eric Holt. "We'll just put them back up."
- The point, he said, is to keep the conversation going and put more pressure on the city to address the issue.
- Holt said the city's response, so far, has lacked the urgency he thinks the problem warrants.
By the numbers: According to the group's data, there have been 368 non-fatal incidents and 23 fatalities so far this year.
- There were 637 non-fatal incidents and 47 fatalities last year.
- The group began tracking in 2022, so non-fatal data for that year is incomplete, but there were 45 recorded fatalities.
The other side: City officials say they, too, are concerned about the crisis and have adopted several traffic-calming measures.
- They've reconfigured the fatal crash review team, are converting several one-way streets into two ways to slow traffic, and adopted a "no turn on red" policy at downtown intersections.
- They're also accepting proposals for community-led tactical urbanism projects.
The intrigue: City-County councilors last night introduced a resolution committing the city to adopt a "vision zero" plan, aimed at altering the built environment to reduce vehicle-related fatalities to zero.
Yes, but: Many other cities have adopted similar Vision Zero policies but some, including, D.C., Portland and Denver have still seen fatalities increase.