GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) – Fatal crashes, hit and runs and pedestrian deaths are all on track to pass last year’s numbers in the city of Greensboro.
On Tuesday, city leaders announced the city’s first Safe Streets Week where the city spoke about their initiatives to curb the fatalities on the roads but also called out to the community for help.
Outside of Greensboro’s municipal office building, there is a constant reminder. There are traffic cones that each represent the total number of deaths on Greensboro’s streets in 2023. Two cyclists died, Three were killed in motorcycle fatalities, 14 pedestrians were killed and 20 people were killed in vehicles.
“Seeing the cones today just breaks my heart,” Greensboro City Councilwoman At-Large Marikay Abuzuaiter said.
Each one represents a life lost.
“That is 39 families who are scarred forever,” Abuzuaiter said. It’s a heartbreaking total for 2023, and the city is on track to outpace those numbers in 2024.
“She was a caring, giving woman to her friends, neighbors and family,” said Keith Steele. His wife Gayle Steele died in June when she was hit by a car speeding on Cone Boulevard.
“It has been a whole new ball game for me. I am struggling, but I am doing good. I’ve got my faith, my family, my neighbors,” Keith said.
Out of the 14 pedestrians killed on Greensboro’s roads this year, five of them were from hit-and-runs, including Gayle.
“Hit-and-runs can be incredibly difficult to solve, especially involving a pedestrian because there is typically very little damage to the vehicle, depending on the situation and scenario,” Officer Tom Fetzer from Greensboro Police’s Traffic Safety Unit said.
Fetzer said the data show an increase in pedestrian crashes, and he sees it on patrol every day.
“I am a little concerned as to why it is happening … It seems to be there is not a whole lot of people crossing the street that really pay attention to traffic or look both ways to cross the street, and I am not sure where that comes from,” Fetzer said.
They need your help.
“Safe Streets Week is a reminder of our collective responsibility to drive carefully and consider others on the road,” Greensboro Department of Transportation Engineering Manager Chris Spencer said.
The challenge this week is to reduce your speed by just five miles per hour.
“This simple change can significantly lower the risks and impacts of crashes and make a huge difference in our community safety,” Spencer said.
The city plans to bring back red light cameras. They started a new neighborhood traffic management program and a GDOT grant will help all Guilford County roads with infrastructure changes to improve safety.
“I think it is going to take the whole community listening,” Abuzuaiter said.
The victim’s families beg you to listen and take action.
“We lost an angel to a senseless, horrific act that should have been avoided,” Keith said.
He worked with the city to get some changes where his wife was killed like new crosswalk paint and trees trimmed for better visibility, but he said the work is far from being done.
“Our goal is simple, but our goal is essential. No loss of life on our streets is acceptable,” Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan said.
The display will stay up all week.
There will also be a remembrance bike ride on Sunday afternoon from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. that will start at the Greensboro Farmer’s Market parking lot.
