We made it through sixteen full days of the calendar year before experiencing any pedestrian fatalities.

Then, on January 17, 2023, motorists killed two pedestrians — one in Killingly and one in Bridgeport.

Around 2:20 AM, the 49-year old driver of a 2006 Cadillac C/t Cts Hi Feature struck and killed Emily Piasecki, 33 of Colchester, on Connecticut Route 101 in Killingly, approximately 0.6 miles from the Rhode Island border. There are no sidewalks in this area. There is no marked crosswalk. Street lighting appears inadequate; this was confirmed in the Connecticut Crash Data Repository, as it is noted that the conditions were dark and not lighted. The speed limit is 45 MPH.

Reporters have not indicated if the Town of Killingly or State of Connecticut would be held responsible for allowing these dangerous conditions; Killingly did not apply through NECCOG for SS4A funding in 2022. No NECCOG towns applied for SS4A funding.

Around 10:45 AM in Bridgeport, a driver struck and killed Rafael Davila, 52, on Connecticut Route 127. From Google Maps, you can see that there were no marked crosswalks in area in 2020. They have since been painted, but news images of the site show paint already looks worn. The marked speed limit is 25 MPH. The driver reportedly did not stick around to call for assistance or administer aid to the victim. One news report stated that the day after Davila was hit, Bridgeport installed a hi-vis pedestrian awareness sign at the nearby crosswalk.

Just after midnight on January 18, the driver of a 2008 BMW 328i Sulev struck and killed Joan Marie Forgas, 32 of Bridgeport, who had stepped out of her vehicle that news sources described as being parked in both the breakdown lane and right lane of Connecticut Route 8, northbound, near exit 13 in Shelton. The driver also hit her parked vehicle. Shelton did not apply for SS4A funding in 2022.

Last year, numerous pedestrians were killed while standing outside of disabled vehicles on highways. Too often there is inadequate space provided for broken down/crashed cars, and no features like rumble strips in places that would assist if someone traveling at highway speeds crossed over a painted line.

Later on this same day, the driver of a silver Hyundai (or similar model car) struck and killed George Tetteh-Quarshire, 70, at the intersection of Pitkin Street and U.S. Route 5 in East Hartford around 9:45 PM. George lived in a nearby apartment and was out for a nightly walk that he took for exercise.

He was killed on a stroad near a highway ramp. There are some marked crosswalks, but many travel lanes a person would still need to walk through. The speed limit on U.S. Route 5 is 35 MPH and on Pitkin Street is 30 MPH. There are multiple slip lanes at this intersection, which is near a Dunkin Donuts with a drive-thru. The evading motorist and murder weapon were later found, and as of publication, it does not appear that police have arrested the driver. East Hartford did not apply for SS4A funding in 2022.

The fifth person to be killed while walking in January was Judith Williams, 42 of New Haven. The driver of a 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee struck and killed Williams on Whalley Avenue near Hudson Street in New Haven around 6:12 PM on January 23, 2023. In the Connecticut Crash Data Repository, she was described as “physically impaired.”

Multiple news reports quote the police saying that the motorist “did not see” the pedestrian but felt the impact when he hit her with his vehicle, which news reports failed to describe, and which is relevant information in many cases. News reports also did not provide an explanation for where the driver was looking that he did not see a person using the road. News reports did not describe the street lighting in this area.

Whalley Avenue is the standard four lane stroad. In this area, there are multiple businesses and curb cuts (driveways) on either side, including a McDonald’s drive-thru and a gas station with car wash. There is no median/refuge for pedestrians.

Another pedestrian was killed four blocks away (0.3 miles) on Whalley Avenue in 2020. In 2021, a pedestrian was killed on Whalley at Ramsdell Street. In 2022, a pedestrian was killed on Whalley Ave between Dayton and Emerson. At what has been one preventable pedestrian death on Whalley Ave per year in recent years, you might expect a bit more urgency from the City of New Haven when it comes to making Whalley Avenue less of a death road for pedestrians. There are no plans to modify Whalley Avenue on the City of New Haven website.

There are plans for revising New Haven’s Sherman Parkway, where a pedestrian was killed in February. This would include creating a shared-use path alongside a park; currently there are no sidewalks on that side of the road. Raised intersections would be installed in the area where this pedestrian and two motorists were killed since 2017. The plan looks good, though how can anyone be anything but frustrated with seeing something on a plan but not having yet materialized on the roadway? The City of New Haven website does not indicate the timeline for these road changes. “To plan is human, to implement, divine,” as Jerold Kayden says.

For those interested in better understanding pedestrian fatalities, a good starting place is The Street Project, a short documentary that will be screened at two places in Greater Hartford this month:

  • February 11, 2023 at 7 PM: film will be shown at BiCi Co West, 616 New Park Avenue, West Hartford
  • February 23, 2023 at 5:30 PM: film will be shown in the Rocky Hill Senior/Community Center Room 1B&C,
    761 Old Main Street, Rocky Hill

Both showings are free and open to the public.

Maps showing where pedestrians and cyclists have been killed from 2020 to present can be viewed here.