Death imagery in the pedestrian driver#

“The danger is because of the design of the roadway. Smart Growth America's 2021 report found older people, people of color and people walking in low income areas were disproportionately impacted by pedestrian fatalities. As a pedestrian it forces us to run out into traffic without a clear crossing,” said Osborne.

Death imagery in the pedestrian driver#

“We are on a system that makes our own responsibility like as a driver trying to protect ourselves unsafe by pushing us to drive higher and higher speeds. Osborne is the director of Transportation for America, what Smart Growth America describes as its transportation arm. “Fatalities in the United States are substantially higher than in any other developed country,” said Beth Osborne. The report points to a combination of dangerous driving, larger vehicles, roadways that prioritize fast moving traffic over safer speeds for pedestrians and inadequate infrastructure. The GHSA analysis found there were 1.04 pedestrian deaths per 100,000 people, up from the previous two years. We have to try to take our anger, our sadness, our longing for the life we had and try to push this new life in a good direction and make him proud of us,” said Debra.īecause they and so many others say one death, is too many. “We have to try to save as many people as we can. They’ve joined the organization Families for Safe Streets. His family said the support of their relatives and friends have helped them, but they now live with a new future, thinking of him in each moment.

Like we don’t have that life anymore, it’s a totally new life,” said Marissa.

“What part of our lives has not been affected? Everything before the crash is no more. It hasn’t gotten any easier,” said Debra. “We’re trying to walk in our new footsteps without him and we have a hard time making it through each day. He fought for two and a half weeks following the crash, his family said, and saved others' lives through organ donation. While he was in the pedestrian crosswalk, his family notes with the signal to walk, a driver turning right hit him. In April 2021, his family said he decided to walk to the bank across from the neighborhood. Debra said he would walk 5 to 7 miles when he went out, but stuck within their plan in Florida wary of the accident rates. “That was like his favorite thing, to spent time with his grandsons,” said Marissa, who shared home videos of him playing with her two sons. “He was very happy, he was energetic, he was loving, he was so family oriented.” “David was a wonderful person,” said his wife Debra Kursh. He ran a family business for decades, was a talented woodworker and had started spending winter in Florida. “One irresponsible moment from somebody else you know a stranger has changed our lives forever.”ĭavid Kursh, Marissa’s father, was a beloved grandpa, father, husband. “He had said ‘I’ll be back’ and I said ‘enjoy your walk, I love you.’ And he walked out that day and your life can just change in a moment,” said Marissa Kursh Cohen. Studies show pedestrian deaths have gone up by at least 45% over the last decade.Īn analysis by the Governors Highway Safety Association projected a 17% increase in pedestrians killed in the first six months of 2021. Across roadways in America, a grim reality is driving calls for change as more people walking are killed.