Walking back home Friday evening around 7:40 p.m., I saw several police vehicles rushing to the infamous Whole Foods North Main Street intersection. Within a minute, I saw it flooded with police vehicles, and notably, one having had sirens on rushing down North Main away from the scene.
First thought: please tell me this is not another hit-and-run.
I ran to the scene and noticed a man lying in the middle of the street being attended by police and EMS. I asked a police officer if it was a hit-and-run. “Yes.”
From the sidewalk, an unconscious man appeared in the middle of the road, with some of his personal belongings strewn about on the street. Another police officer approached and asked if I knew of any security cameras nearby. I stated there’s likely a few from these nearby businesses, to which he thanked me and moved along. I observed a few men writing down police statements. Shortly after, a newsperson was setting up his large camera nearby.
“Another hit and run at the same spot,” I apprehensively mentioned to him.
I stood there for several more minutes, taking photos and nervously biting my nails. EMS eventually brought him into the ambulance, where I noticed he was sat semi-upright. More minutes pass, and some individuals exit the ambulance. I ask if he’s alright. “He seems OK; he’s awake; of course we don’t know for sure, so we’re going to take him to the emergency room.”
I leave.
There have been numerous deaths in the past year alone at this very spot. Through my own communications, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation’s front facing representative, Heather Gately, argued that they don’t own this part of the road, so it’s best to contact the city or the Department of Public Works. She also mentioned that it’s a law enforcement issue, not an infrastructure one. Her overall correspondence lacked any hint of empathy or understanding.
On the flip side, however, the city and the DPW state it’s under RIDOT’s jurisdiction. This lack of action and care has recently prompted Sue Anderbois, the wards city Councilwoman, to create a taskforce to address the issue. It’s still up in the air whether anything will come of this.
Though, I’m not even clear why we need a task force in the first place when the solution is simple. RIDOT and the city first need to genuinely care about their citizens. Secondly, they need to understand what roads they actually own. And lastly, act on the overwhelming evidence and understand that car-centric infrastructure is disgustingly violent, dangerous, toxic, and is a critical environmental and public health issue. My suggestions, should we want to aim for a healthy, livable, and sustainable future, would involve following principles to disincentivize car use and encourage other modes of transit.
For North Main Street (also applicable statewide), I would suggest the following:
- Short-term solutions such as speed bumps, lighting, foliage, and reducing the speed limit.
- Long-term, reducing vehicle lanes and / or road thinning, incorporating a segregated bicycle lane, wider sidewalks, having vehicle traffic signals quickly turn red if a pedestrian presses the crossing button, decriminalizing jaywalking, and instituting substantially harsher penalties for those who inflict harm on vulnerable road users.
Our media also needs to cover how these events actually unfold. An article published by local news WJAR about this incident titled it ‘Person struck by car in Providence.’ Wait a moment! I was there with one of the local news cameramen, so why are they writing it like this? Unfortunately, this has become a common theme: media using soft language and passive voicing to further victim blame those killed by drivers. A more accurate title would have been “Motorist hits pedestrian and flees scene.”
If our media can’t even get a title right, I lack hope that the city and appropriate departments are competent enough to address the issue, let alone figure out what part of the street belongs to whom. Granted, this would all be alleviated if any of them cared. Unfortunately, they don’t.
Update: Yet another hit and run has occurred; WPRI failed to mention this one (the one I wrote about in this article) in their reporting.
WARNING: Photos contain sensitive content
