An extra 10 mph could mean beating the next red light to some drivers, but to a pedestrian it could mean life or death.
This year has brought the most pedestrian fatalities to the District since 2002, according to Jim Sebastian, the manager of the Pedestrian and Bicycle Programs at the District Department of Transportation. Of the 47 total traffic fatalities this year, almost half were pedestrians.
The number of pedestrian deaths in the District has increased over the last several years, according to George Branyan, the Pedestrian Program coordinator at DDOT. In 2002, there were only eight pedestrian deaths, whereas this year alone, there have already been 22.
Two AU students were struck by a car while crossing Nebraska Avenue at a crosswalk near Tenley Circle last March. One student broke her leg, and the other student was thrown 20 feet from the car.
A pedestrian struck by a vehicle traveling at 40 mph has a 90 percent chance of death, Branyan said. If the driver reduced his or her speed by 10 mph, the chance of mortality decreases by 70 percent, he said.
"It's why the speed limits are what they are," Branyan said.
Drivers aren't solely to blame for collisions with pedestrians, said Lauren Schoppman, a first-year graduate student in the College of Arts and Sciences.
"It's a combination of people not adhering to cross signals and drivers not paying attention," Schoppman said.
The District is not alone in its increased traffic fatalities - the recent death of a 17-year-old Maryland driver marked the seventh fatality in little more than a week from traffic accidents.
Law enforcement officials in Montgomery County held last week a demonstration to raise awareness of the importance of alert driving. The event was part of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments' Street Smart Campaign, a program that advocates safe and responsible driver and pedestrian behavior in D.C., Maryland and Virginia. The program also illustrates the lengthy distances required to stop vehicles traveling at different speeds.
For example, the demonstration showed that an automobile traveling 25 mph needs 86 feet to come to a complete stop, while an extra 10 mph increases the necessary stopping distance by 51 feet.
The $400,000 month-long regional traffic safety campaign is normally held only once a year in the spring. However, with a donation from the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, the program is already beginning its second month this year, scheduled to end at the end of November, Branyan said.
Branyan estimated the amount of WMATA'S donation to be around $100,000.
DDOT's Pedestrian Program includes three focus areas: engineering, education and enforcement, Sebastian said.
Enforcement consists of an increased number of police officers working overtime for two to three weeks and focusing on "high crash corridors," he said.
"If any of those three areas are weak, then you're missing a chance to reinforce [responsible] behavior," Branyan said.
Police enforcement may not be enough if the roads themselves are unsafe, said Aimee Shaw, a junior in the School of International Service.
"The road signals aren't very clear [in general]," she said. "You can't see them as a pedestrian."
Although a full-time coordinator for the Pedestrian Program was not appointed until May 2005, the Street Smart campaign has been in existence since 2002.
The program can trace its roots back to 1999, a year when Montgomery County had more pedestrian fatalities than homicides, Branyan said.
The rising number of pedestrian deaths is an inaccurate way to measure the program's overall success, Branyan said. More people reportedly notice the radio, transit and outdoor ads every year, he said.
"We're always seeing a jump in the awareness of the issue," Branyan said. "That has not yet translated into a change of crash statistics"
