Sabian Warren

swarren@citizen-times.com

Asheville police: Trouble spots include many of the city’s busiest thoroughfares: such as Tunnel Road, Hendersonville Road, Long Shoals Road and Haywood roads.

City Council formed the Multimodal Transportation Commission to study ways local roads can be made safer for all users, including pedestrians and cyclists.

Police have increased community awareness efforts and traffic law enforcement in trouble spots.

ASHEVILLE – A steady increase in the number of vehicle/pedestrian collisions in recent years has earned Asheville a dubious distinction — that of the most dangerous city in the state, per capita, for people on foot.

Despite myriad efforts by city leaders ranging from sidewalk improvements to stepped-up police enforcement of traffic rules, the city ended a five-year period from 2008-12 with an average annual pedestrian accident rate of 8.1 accidents per 10,000 residents, easily the highest among the 10 largest metro areas in the state, according to an N.C. Department of Transportation report.

Statistics for 2013 aren’t available yet, but the pattern likely will persist after a number of serious accidents last year and so far this year.

Asheville’s status as a tourist destination, combined with mountain terrain, play a role in the unenviable ranking.

“Because it’s a tourist town, there are more people walking,” said Lothar Dohse, a UNC Asheville professor who’s a member of a recently established city study panel called the Multimodal Transportation Commission. “But it’s also just the way the city is built. There are a lot of dangerous areas that people really don’t know about. The terrain is hilly and curvy, and roads can’t be as wide as we would like.”

Motorists are partly to blame for the problem, but pedestrians also share some responsibility, said Dohse, who’s long been an advocate for walkers and cyclists.

“In some cities, people stop for a pedestrian in a crosswalk,” Dohse said. “In Asheville, they don’t. But I’m not going to blame just motorists. Pedestrians have to follow the rules too.”

Though Asheville topped the per capita accident rate, much larger cities such as Charlotte and Raleigh recorded higher total numbers of accidents during the five-year study period. Charlotte, for example, averaged 374 accidents a year compared to 68 for Asheville. But Charlotte’s per capita rate was 5.1 accidents per 10,000 residents, much lower than in Asheville.

For Asheville, the yearly accident tally nearly doubled from 2008, when there were 48 collisions, to 2012, when there were 93. In that period, 340 accidents were reported that claimed 12 lives and injured 307 people.

According to city police, trouble spots include many of the city’s busiest thoroughfares: Tunnel, Hendersonville, Long Shoals and Haywood roads.

City Council formed the Multimodal Transportation Commission to study ways local roads can be made safer for all users, including pedestrians and cyclists. The panel will report findings and recommendations to City Council.

Dohse said it’s too soon to say what recommendations may come from the group, but better signage for pedestrians, more sidewalks, improved lighting at key intersections and increased police enforcement of traffic laws are among the ideas being discussed.

“There isn’t one primary reason why the number of pedestrian accidents and fatalities has steadily increased over the years, but some of the reasons would be Asheville’s increasing popularity as a tourist destination,” police Chief William Anderson said. “We experience a significant and steady increase in our tourist population that adds many more people and vehicles on our streets and roads. Asheville also serves as the economic hub of this region, so workers drive into and out of the city each day, which greatly increases the traffic volume.”

Police have increased community awareness efforts and enforcement of traffic laws in trouble spots, Anderson said.

“APD has been monitoring crosswalk and heavy pedestrian volume areas for violations,” he said. “The goal is to inform and address the offending drivers that are not yielding to pedestrians. Likewise, we also address pedestrians that don’t make use of marked crosswalks and mechanical pedestrian signals, so they can cross the street in safety.”

Other efforts include working in partnership with the N.C. Department of Transportation to build new sidewalks and pedestrian crosswalks in high-traffic areas, including a $4.2 million project underway now to add sidewalks along a 5.3-mile stretch of Hendersonville Road in South Asheville.

Last June, City Council approved a 7 percent increase in property taxes, with more money allocated to streets, sidewalks and other infrastructure improvements. Pedestrian safety was listed as a priority in council’s most recent strategic plan.

“Pedestrian safety and the safety of all citizens is a priority of the city,” Mayor Esther Manheimer said. “The city continues to look for way to work with partners such as the N.C. Department of Transportation to address pedestrian safety.”

Statewide, an average of 160 pedestrians are killed each year and another 2,400 are injured. The deaths give North Carolina the seventh-highest fatality rate per capita in the U.S., according to DOT.

Rapid population growth likely will make pedestrian safety a challenging issue in North Carolina in the years ahead, DOT spokeswoman Julia Casadonte said.

“We’re seeing huge population growth in the urban centers,” she said. “More people are choosing to walk and bike. We all have a responsibility to watch out for each other, whether you’re walking or whether you’re on a bicycle or behind the wheel. We all have a part to play to make our roads safe.”

Asheville vehicle/ pedestrian crashes

Year: Incidents (fatalities)

2008: 48 (1 fatality)

2009: 60 (3 fatalities)

2010: 67 (2 fatalities)

2011: 72 (2 fatalities)

2012: 93 (4 fatalities)

Source:

N.C. Department of Transportation

Pedestrian safety tips

• Look for cars in all directions — including those turning left or right — before crossing the street; never assume a driver will stop.

• Be careful crossing multiple lanes of traffic. Make sure each lane of traffic is clear before you cross.

• Enhance your visibility at night. Walk in well-lit areas, carry a flashlight or wear something reflective, such as stickers or armbands, to be more visible.

• Avoid distraction. An increasing number of pedestrians are texting or talking on cellphones when crossing streets; this diminishes the ability of two key senses — hearing and seeing — that are used to detect and avoid cars. So particularly when crossing streets, put down the phone for a few seconds.

• Be predictable to drivers and follow the rules of the road — obey signs and signals.

• Obey all pedestrian traffic signals.

• Watch for cars backing up in parking lots; brake lights can mean that a car is about to back up.

• Cross the street where you have the best view of traffic. At bus stops, cross behind the bus or at the nearest crosswalk.

• Always walk on the sidewalk; if there is no sidewalk, walk facing traffic and as far from the roadway as you can.

Source: N.C. Department of Transportation