(Photo By Flickr User Kohei Kanno)
As temperatures begin to get warmer, more people will be crossing the street, which has officials warning people to pay extra attention.
Pedestrian crashes can happen in an instant.
“Yes, every year that I’ve been Coroner, usually we’ll have one, two maybe three per year,” Sangamon County Coroner, Cinda Edwards said.
Over the course of 10 years, national pedestrian fatalities have increased by 27 percent.
“Not being aware of your surroundings. That unfortunately probably plays a big factor in this. If you’re just trying to do too many things at once and not paying attention to the things you need to pay attention to like vehicles, other pedestrians or people on bicycles,” Rochester, IL Chief of Police Kent Bragg said.
In Illinois, the average number of deaths per 100,000 people in Illinois is 1.15.
“It’s summertime so the kids are going to be out and about and we want everybody to be safe and nobody to become injured or killed,” Edwards said.
Officials said the deaths are due large in part to an increase of distracted driving.
“I think we live in a very distracted world right now, we have the cell phones, we have all these activities going on at once and we’re trying to multitask a lot,” Bragg said.
As the temperatures get warmer, officials said it is a reminder to use caution when crossing the roads.
“We have more people concerned with their health. I think more people are going out and wanting to exercise,” Bragg said.
Some ways to stay safe while crossing the road include to not jaywalk and wait for the street sign to give you the all clear to cross.
Also, if you will be walking on or near a road, wear a reflector if you have one.
(Information Courtesy Of WICS-TV)
