Pedestrian Injury and Death in Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta has previously been identified as one of the most dangerous large metropolitan area in the country for pedestrians. Although statistics are not always accessible, in the calendar year 2001, for example, 64 pedestrians were reported killed in Atlanta. Throughout the State of Georgia, more than two-thirds (2/3) of pedestrian fatalities occurred on neighborhood streets, which helps explain why pedestrian injury is the second leading cause of death for children age 5 to 9. Another problem, particularly prevalent in Atlanta, are unsafe sidewalks. While the City does not maintain statistics on the number of people who are injured while using city sidewalks, anyone who lives in the Atlanta area knows that city sidewalks are often in a state of disrepair and are dangerous to pedestrians who might wish to use them. Sidewalks in metropolitan Atlanta also rarely meet the needs of people with disabilities who make up a significant portion of the population. Despite federal requirements and long past deadlines, the City of Atlanta has been slow to take action to mitigate barriers that prevent people with disabilities from safely using the City’s sidewalks.
At a City Counsel work session in February of this year, Public Work Commissioner David Scott estimated that one-fourth (1/4) of Atlanta’s sidewalks were in need of repair. Mr. Scott also conceded that the problem with sidewalk maintenance in Atlanta could not be resolved with the resources at hand. Indeed, less than $125,000.00 is available in the City’s budget for maintenance issues, thus allowing for limited emergency maintenance only. With 25% of City’s sidewalks in need of repair, Commissioner Scott estimated that it would cost approximately $80 million for the City to make all the necessary repairs. What this means, of course, is that twenty-five percent (25%) of all city sidewalks, being in need of repairs, are unsafe.
With one-fourth (1/4) of the City’s sidewalks in need of repair, it is not surprising that there have been significant injuries reported. In one case, a bicyclist was killed while riding his bike near Peachtree Street and Peachtree Battle Avenue within the City limits. A utility wire had been draped across the sidewalk (allegedly for over a month) and the bicyclist came into contact with it such that he was thrown from his bike, landed on his head and was killed. In another tragic occurrence, a small child lost his leg when a loose utility wire which also partially obstructed a city sidewalk got caught up by a passing motorist’s vehicle and severed the boy’s leg as he was standing next to a utility pole, again on a city sidewalk. While these occurrences are tragic, it is clear that there are many more unreported injuries being sustained by pedestrians using Atlanta’s sidewalks. The question is, what can be done about this problem?
In future blogs, we will address ongoing efforts to deal with these chronic problems. What is clear, however, is that sidewalk maintenance in Atlanta is a significant problem which needs to be addressed by the City, sooner rather than later.