3 pedestrians killed on Charlotte roads since Saturday. Was darkness a factor?
At least three pedestrians in the Charlotte area have been struck and killed by vehicles since Saturday.
On Saturday night, Arnoldo Mendez Perez, 34, was crossing Central Avenue when a vehicle hit him on his left side, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said. Perez died at the scene close to Sheffield Park.
In part of northeast Charlotte, near Interstate 85, on Monday morning, Jalen Donovan Worthy, 20, was hit while traveling on an electric skateboard along West Mallard Creek Church Road around 6:30 a.m., CMPD said. Worthy was transported to the hospital, where he died.
“The accident occurred in a dark and unlit area and Mr. Worthy was not in the crosswalk,” police said in a statement.
The same morning, another pedestrian was hit and killed on I-85 near Concord Mills, WBTV reported. Southbound lanes on the interstate between I-485 and Bruton Smith Boulevard were closed for around three hours Monday morning before reopening around 9 a.m. The name of the victim has not been released.
Are pedestrian fatalities more likely to occur in the dark?
All three incidents occurred in different areas, but they share one thing common — each one happened at night or in the early morning hours.
Data show that pedestrian fatalities are much more likely to occur when it’s dark.
In 2021, nearly 80% of all fatal pedestrian crashes happened in the dark, according to the Governor’s Highway Safety Association.
Data from the Urban Institute at UNC Charlotte shows that 265 pedestrians were killed in Charlotte from 2016 to 2020.
City officials say they are trying to change those trends. The city of Charlotte adopted programs, including Charlotte WALKS and Vision Zero, which work to improve pedestrian safety and make the city more walkable.
Several projects — including pedestrian beacons along Sugar Creek Road, The Plaza and Sharon Amity Road — are now in the works. A pedestrian beacon is a traffic control device designed to help pedestrians safely cross busier intersections.
Charlotte also received a $4.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation earlier this year to help improve intersections and reduce crashes involving pedestrians. The grant will go toward installing new traffic signals and establishing buffered bicycle lanes, safe routes to school activities and a pedestrian refuge island.
