COLUMBUS – More pedestrians were struck and killed by cars in Ohio during the first half of last year even as local officials continued pushing to make city streets safer to walk.
READ MORE: In The Columbus Dispatch
A report released Tuesday by the Governors Highway Safety Association projects a 10 percent increase in the number of pedestrians killed in car crashes across the country in 2015.
In Ohio, though, the picture was much worse. Fatal pedestrian crashes in the state more than doubled during the first half of 2015 — the biggest jump in the country, according to the report.
Many of those crashes happen in urban areas, but local officials said Columbus streets are increasingly safe for walkers. The number of fatal pedestrian crashes in the city actually dropped last year, according to a report in the Columbus Dispatch.
Officials say 11 people were struck and killed while walking on Columbus streets in the first half of 2015, compared with 12 during the same period the year before. Officials credit improved crosswalks, additional sidewalks and a police crackdown on jaywalking.
“We’re moving in the right direction,” said Kerstin Carr, planning and environment director at the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission.
During the first six months of 2015, 56 pedestrians were killed in Ohio, up from 25 during the same time period in 2014, according to the report. Data for the second half of the year aren’t finished.