Glendale, CA – On Wednesday, August 2nd, Glendale had its first fatal pedestrian collision since 2016. A middle aged female driver struck two senior female pedestrians in an un-marked crosswalk during the early evening hours. One female in her 80’s succumbed to her injuries. The driver was not speeding nor was she under the influence. Preliminarily she is at fault for failing to yield to pedestrian. The investigation is ongoing. But as we mourn the loss of our family, friend, and neighbor, we must also follow in the footsteps of our City Council and community partners to continue making our streets safe for pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists alike.
According to the latest California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) ratings, Glendale’s placement in several transportation-related areas is well above the averages of similar-sized cities. The most recent data from 2014, does highlight the demand for increased pedestrian safety – especially among people 65 and older. And once again this recent fatality falls right into this category.
Glendale’s City Council approved the formation of the Pedestrian Safety Advisory Board On September 14, 2016. The group is represented by commissioners, community organizations, schools and various city departments. From here several previous safety campaigns including “Look to Live” and “Driven2Distraction” joined “Be Street Smart Glendale.” These initiatives encourage pedestrian safety through education, events, and intelligent design, and have brought pedestrian-related collisions down by a whopping 46% – a trend that is not yet shown by OTS’ 2014 data.
To get to this figure, City staff compared the latest year-end collision report published by the City of Glendale in December, 2016 to the year-end report of 2015. The data shows a decrease in pedestrian-involved collisions by 46%. Although there is more work ahead of us to improve pedestrian safety in Glendale, the downhill trend is a refreshing change of pace.
Note: OTS collision rankings and are based off empirical data drawn from a multitude of state agencies, and produce the most accurate collision rankings available to California cities. The system weighs population, daily vehicle miles traveled, crash records, crash trends, and other relevant factors to arrive at a single, accurate ranking.
To learn more about Glendale’s pedestrian safety initiatives, go to BeStreetSmartGlendale.com. And for more Glendale news or events, like the City of Glendale on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or subscribe to our newsletter!