Harris County sees increase in pedestrian, bicycle collisions
HOUSTON - Law enforcement agencies are joining forces to put the brakes on reckless driving following the increase in injuries and fatalities involving pedestrians and bicyclists. On Thursday, a united front of officials spoke about the increase in deaths caused by careless drivers.
"We’ve seen an unprecedented number of bicycle and pedestrian deaths, 30 in Harris County just since October," said Kim Ogg, the District Attorney for Harris County.
Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said this year in Harris County, 57 auto-pedestrian collisions resulted in a total of 60 pedestrian deaths. In 2022, there were 53 such accidents resulting in 53 deaths and in 2021, 46 crashes killed 48 people.
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"The number of auto-pedestrian fatalities keeps increasing year after year. This is a major concern for us," said Sheriff Gonzalez.
It's a concern that’s all too close to Cody Eberhardt’s heart. In 2017, his mom was training for the BP MS 150 when she was hit and killed by a driver.
"There were 100 cyclists and all it took was one driver that crossed the center line, and he struck my mother and killed her on impact," said Eberhardt.
He uses the experience to remind drivers of the importance of paying attention on the road.
"It gets harder as I sit here and think about my 2-year-old son who cannot see his grandmother and has to walk down a hall and look at a picture and blow her a kiss," said Eberhardt.
"When we go to a crash scene, we ask 'What happened?' ‘I didn’t see them.’ ‘What happened?’ ‘They came out of nowhere.' ’What happened?' ‘I wasn’t paying attention,’" said Erik Bruse, of the Texas Department of Public Safety.
The penalties for those kinds of accidents have just got tougher. A new state law means drivers who kill or injure pedestrians or cyclists in a crosswalk will be charged with a felony.