Pedestrian Killed on Kentucky’s Clark Memorial Bridge

The Clark Memorial Bridge was closed after a fatal accident early Thursday morning, June 12, 2014. Police said a woman attempted to cross Second Street using the crosswalk but a concrete truck was making a right turn onto the Clark Memorial Bridge and hit her. The accident happened at 7:38 a.m. The victim was identified as Ryann M. Tewell, 24. She was pronounced dead at the scene after having multiple blunt force injuries. Tewell worked at Humana. She was walking to her workplace when the accident took place. The police said the driver of the truck did not realize that he had hit Tewell. He continued driving onto the bridge, but he stopped when a witness flagged him down.

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Statistics

• On average, a pedestrian is killed every two hours and injured every seven minutes in traffic crashes.
• Pedestrians comprise 14% of all traffic fatalities and an estimated 3% of those injured in traffic crashes.
• In 2012, around 76,000 were injured and 4,743 were killed in traffic crashes in the United States.
• In Louisville, a total of six pedestrians were killed in motor vehicle accidents during 2012. This is 10% of the city’s overall traffic fatalities.
• Louisville averages about 16 fatal pedestrian accidents annually.

Pedestrian safety grant in Louisville
In April 2014, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced that Louisville was one of the recipients of pedestrian safety grant. On June 11, 2014, Louisville received a total of $307,000 to help create a pedestrian education program for school-aged children and create safe walking routes for senior citizens. Likewise, the funds will be spent for conducting law enforcement training and crosswalk enforcement activities. New York and Philadelphia also received funding to raise awareness, provide education and increase enforcement about pedestrian safety. New York and Philadelphia were awarded $525,000 and $805,801 respectively.

Related: Louisville, KY – 17th Most Dangerous City For Pedestrians

As a Kentucky Pedestrian Accident Attorney, I am very glad that NHTSA chose Louisville to increase pedestrian safety through education and serve as a model for communities across the country. The grant program will definitely help educate people about safety and make Louisville a safer place to walk. Thus, I encourage every Louisvillian to join our government’s efforts in reducing pedestrian accidents and enforcing measures to minimize risks to pedestrians.

Related: Who Can File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit in Kentucky?