MEMPHIS, Tenn. — With a roughly 28% increase of pedestrian deaths in 2022 – the Memphis Police Department is urging Memphians to cross at crosswalks. Not only is it safer – but it’s where drivers are actively looking for pedestrians.
“Cross at the light at the crosswalk – that’s where everybody’s looking for them,” Col. Marcus Worthy said. “But another thing is I’ve seen people on their phones -- they look for traffic and then they’re in their phones and it’s being distracted don’t try to beat the cars, best thing to do is wait ‘til there’s nothing coming.”
When it comes to drivers, running red lights is almost common in Memphis, but it shouldn’t be and is a prime reason for crashes.
“As long as it’s not something intentional,” Worthy said. “If they venture out into the intersection and they have a red light then the other traffic has a green light, then you could have a collision.”
Although pedestrian deaths are up this year from last year with more than 11 just this month, Worthy said that doesn’t mean it isn’t safe to simply go for a walk or run but being vigilant is key.
“The headphones – it’s nice to listen to it and nice to have it on but have it where you can hear what’s going on around you,” Worthy said. “If you got it up to the point that it is so loud that you can’t hear cars coming or engine coming or anything like that, then it’s too loud.”
There are some steps in place to make Memphians more aware of the uptick in pedestrian deaths and ways to stay safe while outside and keep others safe from behind the wheel.
“We’re going to try to do some things to bring awareness to the individuals -- pedestrians who are hit – try to get some flyers and get it out to try to educate individuals to pay more attention to what they’re doing,” Worthy said.