INDIANAPOLIS — Investigators say 33-year old Tiffany Price was walking north along Martin Luther King Jr. Street when a car hit her Friday night. Then another. Both drivers kept going.
While police don't know all the circumstances of what caused that crash, city leaders do know pedestrian crashes and deaths are on the rise.
Near the very spot where Price was hit, the sidewalk along northbound MLK ends. It picks up across the street.
A spokesperson for the Department of Public Works told 13News that area is included in one of DPW's pedestrian crash focus areas. Those are zones in which DPW traffic engineers are taking an extra look at crash data to "determine what might be the most influential pedestrian upgrades for each given intersection."
Several identified crash zones and recommended upgrades in other parts of the city have already gotten funding, and plans are in the works to make the improvements.
A fatality review team also examines the circumstances of each crash to determine what factors may have played a role. Are more sidewalks needed? A traffic light? Members of the team — including someone from DPW, the Department of Metropolitan Development, and bicycle safety advocates — all try to answer those questions.
On Friday, city leaders announced steps to improve pedestrian safety. A $4.5 million project will include new ADA-compliant ramps, sidewalks, crosswalks and street signals.
So far this year, a city spokesperson said 141 pedestrians have been hit by a car in Indianapolis; 15 have died.
According to the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute, 133 pedestrians were killed in Indiana last year — up from 87 in 2016.