Okima Blanks stood at the spot on Statesville Road where her 34-year-old son Keith Blanks was killed, describing a grief that has upended her daily life since he died crossing the North Charlotte intersection at the beginning of July. Now she wants the city to install a crosswalk at the site, hoping it might slow drivers down and prevent another family from losing someone the way she lost her son.
Blanks was struck near Lake Road while attempting to cross Statesville Road outside a designated crosswalk on the night of Thursday, July 2, according to WCNC-TV, which reported he died at the scene following the impact from an SUV. His mother, Okima Blanks, told WSOC-TV that her son's death has made everyday life a struggle, and she has leaned on support from his coworkers at FedEx, where he worked, as she processes the loss.
Police are still investigating the crash, and no charges have been filed against anyone as of the report. That is partly because the driver stopped immediately, called 911, and passed on-scene screening for alcohol impairment and speeding, according to Charlotte Alerts News. Under North Carolina law, the outcome of the investigation hinges on where fault falls when a pedestrian crosses outside a marked crosswalk.
What North Carolina Law Says About Mid-Block Crossings
North Carolina General Statute § 20-174(a) requires pedestrians crossing a roadway anywhere other than within a marked or unmarked crosswalk at an intersection to yield the right-of-way to oncoming vehicles, according to the law firm Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp. That statute helps explain why investigators have not brought criminal charges against the driver in this case.
Even so, the same body of law places a duty on drivers as well. North Carolina General Statute § 20-174(e) mandates that motorists exercise due care to avoid colliding with pedestrians on any roadway and sound their horn when necessary, per documentation published by the town of Holly Springs. That dual obligation, one on pedestrians and one on drivers, sits at the center of the unresolved investigation into what happened on Statesville Road.
Okima Blanks returned to the crash site, according to WSOC-TV, and said she plans to lobby the city for a crosswalk at the location. She believes a marked crossing could get drivers to slow down and pay more attention to pedestrians along the corridor.
A Corridor Already Flagged for Safety Upgrades
Statesville Road was already on Charlotte's radar before Keith Blanks died. Transportation leaders named the corridor among those targeted for infrastructure and safety improvements under a multibillion-dollar transit funding initiative outlined last September, as reported by WFAE. Nearby, the city completed major construction in April on Lakeview Road improvements meant to enhance pedestrian facilities, traffic signals, and connectivity along the Old Statesville Road corridor, according to the City of Charlotte.
Those projects show planners have long recognized the area needs work, but for families like the Blankses, the pace of large-scale planning can feel disconnected from the urgency of an intersection where someone has already died.
A Citywide Pattern of Rising Pedestrian Deaths
Keith Blanks' death fits into a broader and troubling pattern across Charlotte. The city's fiscal year 2025 Vision Zero report, released in January, recorded 81 traffic fatalities, a 9% increase over the prior year, along with a 13% rise in serious injuries even as overall vehicle collisions declined, according to Sustain Charlotte. Pedestrians and bicyclists accounted for just 1.5% of total vehicular crashes citywide, yet suffered 29% of all fatal or severe injuries, the same report found.
Charlotte Department of Transportation data analyzed under Vision Zero shows that 80% of all fatal and serious injury crashes occur on just 13% of the city's street network, a designation known as the High Injury Network. A separate report cited by local transportation advocates in June recorded 287 pedestrian fatalities across the Charlotte region between 2020 and 2024, compared to 241 deaths during the 2015-2019 period, underscoring a multi-year climb in pedestrian deaths that predates Keith Blanks' crash.
Blanks' case joins other recent fatal pedestrian collisions across Charlotte, including an East Charlotte cyclist's death in August following a head-on crash on Albemarle Road. For now, the investigation into what happened on Statesville Road continues, and Okima Blanks says she intends to keep pressing the city for the crosswalk she believes could have saved her son.
