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Published on December 12, 2024
Phoenix Grapples with Soaring Pedestrian Fatalities, Vision Zero Initiative Strives for Improvement Amidst Community ConcernSource: William Murphy from Dublin, Ireland, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The streets of Phoenix continue to represent perilous corridors for pedestrians, with reported numbers painting a disturbing picture. The Arizona Department of Transportation data from 2023 shows that there were 271 fatalities related to pedestrian-involved crashes. What these numbers fail to capture are the individual tragedies, such as the recent hit-and-run case involving a teenage girl in Tempe. "I know every parent has these nightmares, you know, my child is gonna get hurt, something's gonna happen to them but it's so surreal," Shirley Jenks, the girl's mother, told FOX 10 Phoenix.

In the wake of these alarming statistics, Phoenix's Vision Zero Street Safety Committee, chaired by Ed Hermes, advocates for increased pedestrian safety discussions. "Updating our striping policies for our crosswalks all throughout the city to make them more visible, safer, and have stop bars to keep the pedestrian areas clear," Hermes explained. He believes education is crucial, especially during the school year, suggesting programs like ‘operation slow down’ which proved to be effective in other cities. "Yes you committed this crime, but you should've just stayed. I don't understand how this man is able to sleep at night, we're not even able to sleep at night due to his actions," CJ Jenks, a family member of the hit-and-run victim, conveyed to FOX 10 Phoenix.

With Phoenix clocking in the highest rate of traffic deaths among big cities in the U.S., pedestrians find themselves disproportionately represented in these grim tallies. As Arizona's Family reports, city statistics indicate that pedestrians are involved in 44% of all deadly crashes in Phoenix. Patrick Beck, who previously survived a vehicular collision himself, describes crossing certain Phoenix streets like the one at Indian School Road and 67th Avenue, as akin to navigating a disaster area. Within these designated High Injury Network Intersections, numerous serious and deadly crashes have occurred from 2019-2023.

To combat these disturbing trends, Phoenix adopted the Vision Zero initiative in 2022, aiming for zero traffic fatalities. "You know that's a difficult question. I mean, idealistically that's what we'd all love to see," Jorge Riveros, the Traffic Services Division Deputy Director, told Arizona's Family. Although the Phoenix City Council allocated $10 million annually for the initiative, some committee members, including Ed Hermes, argue that greater financial commitment is necessary. Hermes said, "This is a manmade problem and because it's a design problem in large part with our street design, it's also a problem we can solve."