The Reno Police Department has been conducting grant-funded pedestrian safety operations in the city, most recently on Feb. 26.
On last Friday, nine police officers and two sergeants patrolled areas in downtown and midtown, focusing on drivers and pedestrians who were violating traffic laws. They issued 96 citations and gave 13 warnings. These areas of town are prioritized for patrols because they’re densely populated and tend to have the highest number of vehicle-pedestrian accidents.
The safety patrols are funded by a grant provided through the Nevada Office of Traffic Safety. According to RPD Sergeant Greg Bonnette, the patrols will continue as long as the grant funding does. They’re done in response to the high number of pedestrian-vehicle collisions in the city.
So far for 2021, there have been 10 collisions involving pedestrians. Around 200 per year has been the average for the last five years. In 2020, there were 180 pedestrian-involved accidents. In 2019, prior to the pandemic that has kept many indoors for the last year, there were 235. Eight pedestrians died after being hit by vehicles in both 2019 and 2020.
According to a February 2020 report in the Washington Post, pedestrian fatalities on U.S. roads had “increased by more than 50% over the past decade, while deaths of people riding in cars, trucks and other vehicles remained essentially unchanged according to an analysis of federal and state data released” by the Governors Highway Safety Association. The figure represented a 30-year high.
The analysis estimated that pedestrian deaths totaled 6,590 in 2019, an increase of 5% over the previous year. This figure represented the highest number in more than three decades, and underscored a historic reversal that has deeply disturbed safety experts.
“Pedestrian deaths were declining for 30 years and then, in 2009, a complete reversal of progress became evident,” Richard Retting, director of safety and research for Sam Schwartz Engineering, which represents state safety officials, told the Post.
According to RPD’s Bonnette, his department’s recent operations have “focused on both drivers and pedestrians whose behavior could possibly cause a collision or is dangerous in nature.”
In recent months, several pedestrian-vehicle accidents have been found to have been the fault of the pedestrian.
In January, a vehicle hit two pedestrians crossing illegally against a red light in downtown Reno at Second and Lake streets. Police said the pedestrians were going south on Lake Street crossing Second Street when an eastbound vehicle on Second Street hit them. Both pedestrians were treated at the scene for minor injuries—and both were cited.
On Feb. 10, a person was hospitalized, and a dog was killed after both were hit by a vehicle at the westbound Interstate-80 off-ramp at Keystone Avenue.
According to police, the pedestrian and dog were not in a marked crosswalk at the time of the crash. The dog was pronounced dead on the scene, while the pedestrian was taken to a local hospital with minor injuries. The driver remained at the scene and cooperated with police. The pedestrian was cited for not using a crosswalk.
Nevada state law requires pedestrians to use sidewalks, crosswalks and pedestrian bridges and obey all traffic-control signs and signals. If there is not a sidewalk in an area, pedestrians are required to walk on the left side of a street, facing traffic. Motorists must yield to pedestrians and avoid passing vehicles that are stopped for pedestrians. According to the RPD, a good rule of thumb for everyone—walking, biking or driving—is to, “Look Up, Look Out.”
The RPD and the Nevada Department of Public Safety Office of Traffic Safety advises motorists and pedestrians to share the road, stay alert and aware of your surroundings, and abide by laws designed to protect everyone.
More information about the law and safe behaviors for both pedestrians and drivers is available on the Zero Fatalities website at www.ZeroFatalitiesNV.com/pedestrian.
