Local Opinion: Tucson drivers need to slow down, pay attention

I have started many letters to the editor about pedestrian deaths, but I always abandon them. What stops me is the PTSD I suffered after witnessing a driver hit a man in 2001.

This time, I’m too angry to stop. On the night of Sept. 3, Kendra Roberts, 21, was hit by a car while trying to cross Grant Road on foot. And then her body was hit by another car. And then another!

Really??!!

The first driver didn’t stop but came back later. The second driver didn’t stop and has yet to be identified. The third driver stopped and stayed on scene. Yes, it was dark, but if you were paying attention, you would see a pothole, or a brick, or a bucket, or a young woman’s body on the road in front of you, wouldn’t you? Kendra was in a crosswalk; she should be alive.

So should David Akey, the man I saw hit. David was a joyful and creative person — a puppeteer, muralist, sign-painter, master carpenter and “could play a mean flute,” said his friend (who I found on Facebook). His friend sadly confirmed my fear — someone who loved David saw his first step — but I, a stranger, saw his last. He died 6 months later, never recognizing his friend.

What haunts me is the face of the driver of the car who hit him — she was looking down toward the center console in her car. She didn’t hear me honk. David hurried, but too late. She didn’t see him because she wasn’t looking. How often are you not looking?

I can hear drivers’ feathers ruffling as they think, “it’s usually the pedestrian’s fault!” That may be true, but it is always the effect of the car that kills, and only one person can control that: the driver.

As far as pedestrian safety goes, Tucson is basically out-of-luck by design. Every time we had the chance to create freeways or expressways, Tucsonans said, “No!” for the ridiculous reason that they think we’ll become like Phoenix. As if!

Yet, the City of Tucson sent a contingent to Portland, Oregon, to check out their 60 miles of light rail, when designing our measly four miles of streetcar, because Portland has a model public transit system. It also has a system of multiple freeways that crisscross the city.

Freeways are crucial for keeping cars away from bicyclists and pedestrians, but our people ignored that part. So, what we have is a similar population (Portland has about 641,000, Tucson has about 543,000), but vastly different transportation options.

In Tucson, if you don’t walk or ride the bus, you drive on surface streets — everywhere. (If only I-10 didn’t cut through town on a diagonal! D’oh!) But who needs freeways when we’ve decided it’s OK to drive highway speeds between traffic lights?

How do we make our roads safer? The answer for drivers is simple, but you won’t like it: we must stop speeding and stop messing with our phones. Period. I suggest you have the expectation that pedestrians dart out into traffic like dogs, or like monsters in a video game.

We speed because we can — we don’t have enough officers to enforce speed limits. They’re busy directing traffic around injury accidents exacerbated by our speeding. They see the blood, the mangled bodies, the unrecognizable faces. Can you blame them for not staying here?

We can’t change our roads, but we can change our behavior. We must! We have a model animal shelter program: PACC has been a no-kill shelter since 2016. We can do the same for people and aim for no-kill Streets. But it won’t work unless we all commit to being chill, yet alert.

Watch the road! Watch your speed! Watch your step!