The story of the 30-year-old pedestrian killed by a car on Eastern Avenue NE last week is heartbreaking for a number of reasons.
Georgette Jones was crossing the street in the 500 block of Eastern Avenue NE on Thursday when she was struck by a Chevy Tahoe, according to the Metropolitan Police Department. Jones leaves behind a fiancé, Nicholas Clarke, and a 7-week-old baby. Just to make the story a little more horrifying, Clarke told NBC4 Jones’ purse and phone, which contained pictures of the baby, were taken after the accident.
According to Struck in D.C., Jones was the 219th pedestrian hit in the city this year. Since her death, six more people were struck, bringing the total to 225. (While this post was being written, victim 226 emerged: A 13-year-old female was struck at Kenyon Street and Sherman Avenue NW and suffered non-life threatening injuries, according to a tweet from the MPD.)
Clarke told NBC4 he wants to see a pedestrian crossing or traffic light put it in near the accident scene.
Just days after Jones’ death, a group of advocates for cyclists and pedestrians are proposing another idea. The D.C. Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Councils sent a letter to the D.C. Council today recommending the city continue installing speed and red-light cameras.
“We believe that this program is one important way to protect pedestrians and bicyclists from dangerous driver behaviors, including speeding, running red lights and stop signs, and speeding through intersections,” the letter reads.
The groups, established by the D.C. Council a few years ago, cited an April study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety that found 87 percent of D.C. residents surveyed support red-light cameras and 76 percent back speed cameras. The IIHS surveyed 801 D.C. residents by phone. There’s also evidence from the MPD, the groups said, that shows traffic cameras effectively work at curbing speeding.
In a blog post, the Councils said a proposal by Rep. Kerry Bentivolio (R-Mich.) to ban D.C.’s use of automated cameras and Councilmember Vincent Orange’s (D-At Large) proposed two-year moratorium on new traffic cameras caused the groups to be concerned. The proposals “could threaten the public health and safety gains that have been made in recent years,” the groups said.
In Jones’s case, it’s unclear if more traffic cameras would have saved her. There’s currently speed cameras on the eastbound and westbound lanes at the 800 block of Eastern Avenue NE.
