By Nathalia Teixeira / Broadcast version by Farah Siddiqi reporting for the Kent State-Ohio News Connection Collaboration.

According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, there were 752 pedestrian-involved crashes reported as of May 19 — an average of 5.4 per day. Of those, 43 resulted in a fatality and 149 resulted in a serious injury.

In 2022, there were 2,417 pedestrian-related crashes reported in Ohio, an average of 6.6 per day. Of those, 164 resulted in a fatality and 515 resulted in a serious injury.

Lack of access to safe places for pedestrians to cross, drivers traveling at higher speeds and impaired and distracted driving are some of the reasons those crashes occurred. Pedestrian safety agencies are working to prevent them.

“We recognize that pedestrians are vulnerable road users,” said Maria Cantrell, the Vision Zero Columbus coordinator.

Faster speeds and larger vehicles are more likely to cause fatal crashes. 

Bridget Matt, an Ohio State Highway Patrol Sergeant, said that when vehicles are traveling faster, drivers’ reaction times decrease. If a pedestrian steps out into the street, the driver has less time to brake or swerve. 

Cantrell said when struck by a car going 20 miles per hour, a pedestrian has a better chance of surviving that crash compared to 40 miles per hour, which is usually the most realistic speed on Ohio roads. 

 “Just a few miles an hour difference makes a really significant change in outcome between life and death for a pedestrian,” Cantrell said. 

Larger vehicles also take longer to stop. 

“The weight of a vehicle determines how long it takes for that vehicle to stop or how easy that vehicle is to maneuver,” said Nathan Dennis, an Ohio State Highway Patrol Lieutenant. “The larger the vehicle, the larger the stopping distance, or the distance it takes to slow that vehicle down when a situation occurs up ahead of you.”

Judy Converse, the public information officer at the Ohio Traffic Safety Office, said that speeding has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic because there were fewer cars on the roads and police enforcement also dropped. 

“Roads kind of became more open for drivers, and drivers just felt more comfortable with traveling at a faster speed,” Converse said.

Ohio Traffic Safety Office grants come from the federal government. They distribute those grants to partners who live and work on traffic safety in their local communities.

“It's kind of a combination of using data and then responding to crashes after they happen,” Converse said. “The goal is just to prevent crashes by changing driver behavior and then just putting safety in the hands of each individual road user.”

Vision Zero advocates for pedestrian safety and has focused on making sidewalks and crosswalks better.

“In the last two years, we just improved, added and upgraded 189 crosswalks in the city of Columbus,” Cantrell said. “We're looking as we move forward to add at least 25 more miles of sidewalks or shared-use paths where pedestrians can walk safely along the road, but we have much more work to go.”

Vision Zero Columbus launched their first action plan two years ago.

“We haven't yet seen a reduction in pedestrian fatal crashes across the city [of Columbus],” Cantrell said. “It's going to take a little more time to see the data or the outcomes to catch up with the work we're trying to do, but good work is being done towards that effort.”

Vision Zero’s goal is to eliminate crash-related fatalities and serious injuries while promoting fair, safe, and healthy mobility for all.

“We all need to do our part,” Cantrell said. “Whether you're walking, biking [or] driving a car, everyone has a shared responsibility to help yourself and each other get where they need to go safely.”

Ohio recently made distracted driving a primary offense for all drivers. Infrastructure improvements, like adding sidewalks and crosswalks, also help keep pedestrians safer.

“I really think if you can encourage safe speeds by people driving cars and better infrastructure and access, so separated safe spaces for people walking, whether they're walking along the street or good places for them to cross the street, that will make a huge difference in the outcomes that we're trying to achieve,” Cantrell said. 

Where sidewalks exist, pedestrians should always try to use them. 

“Whenever there is a sidewalk that’s available to be used by pedestrians, that should be utilized in all cases,” Matt said. 

“If you're going to be out just for a leisurely walk, it is suggested that you utilize an area that does have a sidewalk so that you can safely do that without having to worry about being out in the travel lane of a roadway,” Dennis added. 

Most pedestrian crashes occur at night because of the lack of visibility that drivers have. For that, Dennis gave some advice on what to do if you are walking on a road at night: 

1. Ensure you're wearing bright colors or reflectors;


2. Carry a flashlight, or use the one on your smartphone;


3. Try to be visible to drivers as they approach;


4. Try to be alert of your surroundings;


5. Ensure you're next to the edge of the roadway and you can remove yourself from the roadway quickly if you need to.

“As we come into the summer months, we see an increase not only in the roadway traffic of motorists but also an increase in pedestrians when the weather is nicer and people are outside more,” Matt said. “So we just need to be vigilant, be aware of our surroundings and be respectful of all those using the roadways to travel.”


Lastly, Cantrell says calling “accidents” “crashes” instead can help us remember that these crashes are preventable.


“The word ‘accident’ has a connotation that there lacks accountability,” Cantrell said. “We want to assign accountability to these outcomes because most of these incidents, these collisions, are preventable.”



This collaboration is produced in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.


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President Donald Trump's budget bill took another step forward Tuesday by passing in the U.S. Senate.

The bill would end some tax credits one Kansas manufacturer said are vital to American competitiveness abroad.

Kurt Neutgens, cofounder and president of Kansas City-based Orange EV, which manufactures electric yard hostlers, chargers and battery storage systems, explained his industrial customers use a $40,000 tax credit to help purchase his all-electric yard hostlers for loading and unloading cargo.

Senate Republicans voted to cut the tax credit by September. Neutgens pointed out EV manufacturers, and renewable energy companies in general, frequently compete with Chinese manufacturers, which are subsidized by the government.

"If we don't support clean energy, from materials to manufacturing to assembly to even clean energy products all the way up to vehicles, in this bill then we are really handing dominance to China for all of that," Neutgens asserted.

Policies like the EV tax credits from President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act have been in the Trump administration's crosshairs. Republican lawmakers have argued market competition should be the driving force on which vehicles -- electric or gas -- people drive.

Neutgens, who employs more than 300 people, said tax credits help the electric vehicle manufacturers increase their volume, which will allow them to compete with China.

"We need these incentives to be able to get ourselves to a level where we have enough volume so that we can compete," Neutgens emphasized. "Even though they're getting government subsidies."

A study by Princeton University found if electric vehicle tax credits are cut and clean air regulations for vehicles are curtailed, EV sales could drop up to 40% by 2030, compared to what they'd be if the Biden-era policies continued.


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The U.S. Department of Transportation has frozen millions in grant dollars awarded by the Biden administration, leaving those counting on them in limbo.

Powell County, Montana was set to receive more than $6.3 million for its Parks to Passes project, a collaboration with neighboring groups and governments to close gaps in a pedestrian and biking corridor spanning roughly 230 miles between Butte and the Idaho border. The trail is part of the larger Great American Rail-Trail route.

Kevin Mills, vice president of policy for the Rails to Trails Conservancy, said the eventual coast-to-coast trail will stretch 3,700 miles from Washington, D.C., to Washington state.

"It's really stalling an important connection in that nationwide trail," Mills pointed out. "That puts at risk Montana's potential to tap into what we've calculated to be $16 million in new economic development."

The grant was part of President Joe Biden's Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity program. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the Biden administration delayed construction with, quote, "leftist social requirements" including the consideration of a project's climate change and social justice impacts.

In addition to economic and climate benefits, effective trail corridors improve safety. Mills noted 9,000 pedestrians and cyclists die on roads each year in the U.S. and 130,000 more are injured.

"This is a problem that's really grown over the last decade because we don't really provide safe places to walk and bike," Mills explained. "These federal grants that are on hold are sorely needed to make the situation better."

In Montana, he added, about $200 million in grants have been frozen, including $10 million for trail projects.

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New data show Arizona's two largest airports have fared well for on-time departures and arrivals but the same cannot be said about U.S. airlines in general.

Air travelers filed about 67,000 complaints last year, up 9% from 2023, according to a new report from the Public Interest Research Group Education Fund. The top grievances were cancellations and delays, not receiving refunds and luggage being lost or damaged.

Teresa Murray, consumer watchdog director for the group's Arizona education fund, said the number of travelers was expected to increase by about 7% this year but economic uncertainty and concerns from international travelers has curbed it. She noted Delta, Southwest and United have all indicated they will cut their number of flights in the months ahead.

"Then you throw in the safety issue," Murray added. "We don't have any way of knowing -- and I don't think the airlines really know for sure -- what to expect in the months ahead, although it is certainly expected that maybe we won't see a 7% increase in passengers this year."

Murray pointed out travelers have more rights this year than they did a year ago. For instance, complaints about refunds and delays prompted action from Congress on an FAA reauthorization bill, which mandates airlines to issue fast, no-hassle refunds if a flight is canceled for any reason. Online, people can visit pirg.org/flighttips for more information.

Murray noted overall, cancellations and delays across the nation increased last year. Just this week, Newark Airport saw many delays and cancellations after the FAA issued a ground stop following an outage at one of its air traffic control facilities. Murray argued flyers need to be in the know and on alert about where they are flying through.

"Pay attention to the news," Murray urged. "Because there are going to be other hot spots where, because of the air traffic control shortages and because of equipment, there may be some airports that are just a little bit more headache-inducing than what we've seen."

Murray realizes some are on edge about the current state of the airline industry but emphasized being courteous and respectful to fellow passengers and airline representatives goes a long way.

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