Written by: Karyme Bravo 🇸🇻🇲🇽
Despite being Maryland’s most populated or dense county, Prince George's has seen the most fatalities on state and local roads. ( Image via: Alexa Figueroa)
Prince George’s County has the highest rate of fatal crashes within the state, according to The Maryland Department of Transportation.
The Department of Transportation released a data report that users can use to examine where fatal crashes occur most often. The report includes the weather conditions, age, and gender of the driver who was behind the wheel.
Derek Gunn, District Engineer State Highway Administration (SHA) for the Maryland Department of Transportation, mentioned their strategic highway safety plan, as they aim to work with local agencies to lower these fatal crashes.
“We have to be proactive,” Gunn said, “we would have to follow the Four E’s: Engineering, Education, Outreach or Enforcement, and Emergency Response.”
The Zero Deaths database shows crash data in Maryland, going back to 2016.
Despite being Maryland’s most populated or dense county, Prince George's has seen the most fatalities on state and local roads.
Throughout the nine-year span, Prince George’s County had 973 fatal crashes. Following the top five deadliest counties for fatal crashes: Baltimore County with 594, Baltimore City with 402, Anne Arundel County with 383, and Montgomery County with 347.
These fatal crashes in Prince George’s County are a major concern for the administration which is taking a comprehensive data-driven approach to implement safety measures.
“We are implementing innovative and proven countermeasures to address safety on our roadways,” Gunn said.
Gunn revealed in the Pedestrian Safety Action Plan (PSAP), which is an $80 million strategic framework, that the majority of these crashes occur in the nighttime.
As daylight savings comes to an end on Nov. 3, Gunn emphasizes drivers to become more aware as it will get darker sooner.
“The large majority of crashes occur in dark conditions,” Gunn said, “so lighting will become an important issue in terms of how we program and address safety...”
Since 2021, there has been an alarming rate of pedestrian fatalities but in 2023, 140 fatalities had occurred throughout the year which was its highest record, according to the department.
On Oct. 15, Quintinia Milledge, 45, of Clinton, died after being struck by a driver in the area of Piscataway Rd. and Surratts Village Dr., where she suffered from trauma injuries and was pronounced dead on the scene, according to Prince George’s County Police Department.
“The incident was shocking for sure and very sad,” Kirsten Simpkins, a guidance counselor from Surrattsville High School, said.
There had been 247 distracted drivers, the second-highest cause of these fatal crashes.
Prince George’s County police said that new laws will be passed in the future to address any specific issues amongst these fatalities.
“Lawmakers have in the past and will continue to legislate policies that will protect their residents,” Prince George County Police said. “It is incumbent upon pedestrians to be mindful when negotiating crossing a busy highway.”
In Dec. 2023, the highway administration completed the Rhode Island trolley trail project in Hyattsville, which is a bicycle-pedestrian route that will enhance natural surface trails and add American with Disabilities Act (ADA)-compliant pedestrian and bicycle facilities to enhance network connectivity and improve safety.
Gunn mentioned the MD 410 (East-West highway) project which identifies the need for decisions that are made using factors such as equity, destinations and connections, crash data, and density.
The Fiscal Year 2024 efforts upgraded about 1,000 crosswalks and 162 intersections statewide with significant improvements in Prince George’s County, according to Gunn.
The highway administration has recently adopted new toolkits that implement innovative countermeasures, including pedestrian hybrid beacons, rectangular rapid flash, and beacons leading pedestrian intervals.
“Safety is our agency’s utmost priority for all our road users,” Gunn said.
Data Utilized in story From Zero Deaths Database is from 10/31
Comments