Busy city streets like Columbia Road, Florida Avenue, or Benning Road can sometimes feel like a real-life game of Frogger. With pedestrians crossing at all angles, cyclists zooming past, and drivers dodging delivery trucks, it is a wonder more accidents don’t occur among all the chaos. Perhaps city-dwellers have learned to adapt, staying alert and expecting the unexpected. Maybe they are just lucky.

However, as urbanization reaches farther out into the metro area, pedestrian collisions are emerging as a major issue in quiet suburban enclaves. In Montgomery County, there have been thirteen pedestrian deaths this year, and dozens more injuries, both minor and more serious. In just the last two weeks, an 11-year-old girl was hit walking to her school bus and a 12-year-old boy was killed in rush hour traffic. In fact, pedestrian deaths exceed homicides in Montgomery County, making it a top-priority safety issue. Mean streets indeed…

Photo by Swaneeswan