Lexington police say it’s time for change after series of crashes involving pedestrians

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - In the past five days, there have been at least three pedestrian-involved crashes in Lexington, and police officials say it’s time for a change.

Friday night, Lisa Michelle Walls was hit and killed by a vehicle on Richmond Road.

On Sunday, a woman suffered life-threatening injuries after being hit on New Circle Road.

And early Tuesday morning, a person was hit on North Broadway, leaving the pedestrian with life-threatening injuries.

Lt. Chris Van Brackel with Lexington Police believes part of the problem is visibility.

“We think that cars see us when they don’t. We overestimate how visible we are,” said Van Brackel.

Van Brackel says wearing bright colors at night isn’t enough. Reflective gear will keep you best protected. He also says Lexington’s unhoused population spends significant time on the roadways and may become desensitized to its dangers.

“We get so comfortable standing on the side of the road, and the cars just become background noise. If you are always on the road, then maybe that’s the same thing. It does kind of blend in, and you’re not kind of concerned with it,” said Van Brackel.

Police are urging people to be mindful of dangers even if they don’t catch you breaking pedestrian safety rules.

“This isn’t a situation where we can go out and start writing tickets for jaywalking. We can’t write our way out of it. More people will see this story than who I can write a ticket to, so this is a better way for us to get the message out to pedestrians and drivers,” said Van Brackel.

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