RSSKissimmee Residents Ramp Up Pressure for Pedestrian Safety After Crashes
After a string of collisions, residents living in a neighborhood of Kissimmee that contains a stretch of Michigan Avenue wedged between Boulder Drive and U.S. Route 192 are amping up their demand for better crosswalks and other pedestrian safety zones. Reports from various news agencies indicated that this demand first began emerging from various quarters towards the end of last summer.
It was in September that a citizen in the area was at the scene of a collision between a bicycle and another vehicle. While emergency crews rushed to the area, this citizen took a video of the crash’s aftermath. This video plainly showed how the street is a hazard to pedestrians and cyclists, with numerous bus stops but no pedestrian crossing zones.
Residents in the area say that crashes happen all the time. Since the time of the report in September, numerous other collisions have taken place along the same area of Michigan Avenue. From December 12th until the time of this writing, two crashes have taken place in the area. In one of these very recent incidents, a bicyclist was hit by a car. In the second, a 45-year-old was on foot and attempting to cross the road when they were hit.
While it is not believed that any of these incidents resulted in fatalities, injuries that the body sustains in a physically traumatic event such as a car crash are often far more severe and long-lasting than initially appears to be the case. Especially in cases when the crash involves a cyclist or a pedestrian, people who are not protected by airbags, the physical effects can manifest themselves throughout a person’s life.
In December, officials with Osceola County subjected the entire stretch of Michigan Avenue in question to what they claimed was a rigorous traffic study. In this study, a map of the street was created which took care to outline all of the various bus stops (for both school and Lynx buses) as well as the specific locations where all of the crashes took place. It is the great hope of the residents in the area that this study will result in some concrete changes in the area in order to greatly enhance pedestrian safety.
Sources:
James O. Cunningham
Since 1977, personal injury lawyer James Cunningham has provided effective legal advocacy to people who are injured through the negligent actions of another person or entity throughout the Central Florida area. He fights to obtain recoveries for his clients’ physical and emotional pain and suffering and pursues his clients’ personal injury cases with a commitment to excellence and impeccable preparation.
Mr. Cunningham is an excellent and knowledgeable attorney.