LGBT liaison officer says police have ‘good information’ from witnesses; Hunt says efforts to improve safety ‘must be expedited’
ANGELA HUNT
Tammye Nash | Senior Editor
nash@dallasvoice.com
Dallas police are continuing their investigation this week into the Nov. 25 hit-and-run on Cedar Springs Road that claimed the life of Edward Lee King, 61.
LGBT Liaison Officer Laura Martin said police reports indicate King was crossing from the west side to the east side, in the middle of the 4100 block of Cedar Springs, near the Knight Street intersection, around 10:30 p.m., when he was struck by a dark-colored SUV traveling south.
The vehicle, described by witnesses as possibly a Land Rover or a Range Rover with wraparound taillights, sped off without stopping and turned east on Throckmorton Street.
Martin said police have “some pretty good information” from witnesses and hope to locate the driver of the vehicle soon.
King, known to family and friends as Joe, worked part time at Amico Pizza, located on Cedar Springs near the site of the accident. He was the second person to be killed within a three-block area of Cedar Springs in November.
Wayne Priest, 55, was killed Nov. 3 in a hit-and-run near the intersection of Cedar Springs and Reagan Street.
Martin said that the two incidents in November were the second and third traffic incidents involving pedestrians between the 3800 block and the 4200 block of Cedar Springs this year. The first occurred in January, but Martin said the pedestrian in that incident was not seriously injured, according to reports she had seen.
Dallas City Councilwoman Angela Hunt, whose District 14 lines the east side of Cedar Springs Road where both fatalities occurred, said this week that city officials continue to search for ways to improve safety in the high-traffic entertainment district.
Following Priest’s death early in the month, Hunt told Dallas Voice she had asked city officials to “look into exactly what happened and to make recommendations about how we can move forward in making the area safer.”
This week, following King’s death, Hunt said those efforts “have to be expedited. This is obviously a situation that needs immediate attention.”
She said the city is looking at other cities to see how they have addressed the issue of pedestrian safety in similar areas.
“There are a range of issues involved,” Hunt said. “I am no expert. But we have to find an expedited and thoughtful solution.”
Councilwoman Pauline Medrano, who represents District 2 on the west side of Cedar Springs, did not return calls this week seeking comment.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition December 2, 2011.
I live at Ilume and my boyfriend works at Alexandres so we cross at those intersections often. Ask anyone in this area and they will tell you how dangerous it is. Why actual traffic lights have not been put up is beyond me! At the very least the city needs to put up (in addition to the blinking crosswalk) signs above the street that say pedestrian crossing and light up. Another SUV drove straight into the crime scene over the flares and was let go as they investigated Joe’s hit and run. There is a huge problem and it needs to be addressed!
First, condolences to the friends and families of the victims of these tragic accidents.
If it wasn’t obvious before it certainly is now that what has been implemented previously to protect pedestrians in the Cedar Springs area has not been effective. It’s time for the community to not rely solely on the experts to deal with this problem.
A google search of “crosswalk design for pedestrian safety” yields much information including studies that can provide a quick education for anyone. https://www.walkinginfo.org/problems/problems-crossing.cfm is but one link that has pointers including: “check that lighting is adequate at all crossings”; “…raised crosswalks combined with an overhead flashing light both increased pedestrian visibility and the likelihood that the driver yields to pedestrians.”
There was some discussion in both of these accidents regarding whether the pedestrians crossed at a marked or unmarked crosswalk. Texas law is consistent with the link above that “legal crosswalks exist at all public street intersections, unless otherwise signed, regardless of whether they are marked or unmarked.” But just adding markings to crosswalks may not be the full solution as “A national study on whether it is safer to have a marked or unmarked crosswalk at a crossing where no traffic signal or STOP sign is present was recently conducted for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). This study involved analysis of 5 years of pedestrian crashes at 1,000 marked crosswalks and 1,000 matched unmarked comparison sites. The study results revealed that on two-lane roads, the presence of a marked crosswalk alone at an uncontrolled location was associated with no difference in pedestrian crash rate, compared to an unmarked crosswalk…”
So Dallas City Councilwoman Angela Hunt, I would appeal to you to BE an expert in this matter, and not to only delegate to designated experts to address a problem which has not been adequately solved by them in many years. Also, the proposed expedited solution(s) should be presented and allow for an open public forum for review and comment.