Safer Streets advocates for better crosswalk conditions during pedestrian fatality investigation

ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. - A pedestrian was fatally struck by a vehicle while crossing a busy road in St. Louis County Monday evening.

A 38-year-old male driver was traveling westbound on Manchester Road around 7:15 p.m. as the female victim was walking across the street at the corner of Sappington. The exact circumstances of the crash remain unclear, but the Missouri State Highway Patrol is reviewing footage from the surrounding businesses.

Wider lanes and improved lighting are just two of the ways Safer Streets for Kirkwood and St. Louis County believes could provide more security to both pedestrians and drivers.

“We really need crosswalk lighting; by doing that, we’ll have a 45 percent safer crossing in the evening. And even though 25 percent of these crosswalks will be used in the evening, 50 percent of the crashes happen in the evening," Michael Carmody with Safer Streets for Kirkwood and St. Louis County said.

The U.S. Department of Transportation FHA suggests enhanced signs and markings and high-visibility crosswalks could prevent an increase in pedestrian crash potential.

“And we hear this all the time: you can’t see the crosswalks; you can’t see the lane markers, so if you’re a car and you’re coming down, there’s a chance you might not even see that there’s a crosswalk here,” Carmody added.

The intersection stacks up short with its poor lighting, brief walking time, and wearing paint that Safer Streets says there’s materials that will reflect light better than the water-based paint used within the past two years.

Carmody expresses, “They’ll actually reflect back to you and give a better silhouette of the pedestrian, so everybody benefits.”

Safer Streets had a meeting with MODOT Tuesday morning, and MODOT agreed to an audit on all four sections of this crosswalk at Sappington and Manchester.