PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Since early 2022, 13 pedestrians have died after getting hit by traffic along Jefferson Avenue in Newport News, making it one of the deadliest streets in the region, according to data collected by each city in Hampton Roads. This comes as no surprise to the people who live nearby.
Police: Pedestrian dead on Jefferson Ave. in Newport News
“I work at night and I’ve seen speeders and drunk drivers and no lights, you know,” a local worker told 10 On Your Side. “And, it’s just, wow.”
Since COVID-19, pedestrian crashes as a whole have actually gone down, but the amount of fatalities have only increased. Experts said it’s due to more speeding on the roads.
State police see uptick in deadly pedestrian crashes across Virginia in 2024
“Speeding is becoming a much more bigger factor,” said Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization (HRTPO) Principal Transportation Engineer Keith Nichols. “If you are involved in a crash and you’re a pedestrian, you’re much more likely to have severe consequences because of the additional speeding. So, part of it is just human behavior. People are driving differently post-pandemic, but also, enforcement is down for many reasons. One of them is just the inability to hire police officers in many of these localities. So, lower enforcement is leading to higher speeding as well.”