Joe Kennedy

Joe Kennedy is routinely named the region's best writer by readers of The Roanoker magazine.

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Wednesday afternoon I was taking my old-guy constitutional in downtown Roanoke when I reached the pedestrian crosswalk on Franklin Road in midblock just south of the Norfolk Southern building.

There was no traffic to my left. On my right, a sport utility vehicle approached from probably 30 or 40 yards away.

I started to cross the street. The SUV kept coming. I walked slowly. The SUV kept coming. I reached the middle of the street, and the SUV ... braked at last.

A downtown Roanoke tradition continued.

Have you ever noticed how polite Roanoke's drivers can be when faced with a pedestrian at a crosswalk?

Admittedly, not all of them are, but certainly the crosswalks downtown, like those on Campbell Avenue at the Roanoke City Market, provide ample evidence of the many polite drivers around here.

Even the driver of the SUV on Franklin Road -- its tinted windows prevented me from determining gender -- didn't speed up or sound the horn or do anything else to indicate exasperation or scare the willies out of me.

On your toes

If you walk around town and keep an eye on the crosswalks, especially those in midblock, you see a surprising amount of courtesy, given the state of the world these days.

Eyeing the crosswalks also makes you more aware of traffic in general, particularly how quickly your brilliant little life would be snuffed out if even one vehicle hopped a curb and crushed you against a building.

The older you get, the more useful this awareness becomes.

Nearly 5,000 pedestrians in the United States were killed by motor vehicles in 2005. About 64,000 are injured annually.

These figures represent significant drops over the past 30 years. Decreased walking may be a factor in the decline.

Children under age 16 still are most likely to be struck by motor vehicles.

Elderly pedestrians are struck less often but are more likely to die as a consequence.

Mobile society

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has reported that a 1999 survey found that only 31 percent of children who lived within one mile of school walked or biked to get there.

In 1969, the figure approached 90 percent.

Since then, the pedestrian death rate for children from ages 0 to 12 has dropped 84 percent. For kids ages 13 to 19, the rate has dropped 62 percent.

I called the Roanoke Police Department to inquire about pedestrian safety in the city, but the resident expert, if there is one, never called me back.

Downtown, traffic moves relatively slowly. Still, people have been badly hurt or killed at times, and there are intersections where just standing on the curb can make you antsy.

Second Street Southwest and Campbell Avenue is one. Some southbound drivers descend the Gainsboro Bridge like ski jumpers flying down a ramp.

You dare not step off the curb.

My exceedingly casual survey has found crossing Grandin Road in Grandin Village to be a little more challenging, perhaps because traffic from the south arrives at a higher speed than downtown.

In 2005, 72 percent of pedestrian deaths from vehicles nationally occurred on urban streets.

The Insurance Institute's 2002 study of pedestrian deaths in Baltimore and Washington showed pedestrians at fault half the time and drivers at fault 39 percent of the time.

Pedestrians almost always were found responsible when they crossed at midblock or stepped suddenly in front of vehicles.

Such collisions occur mostly between 6 p.m. and midnight. Pedestrian deaths are more likely to occur on Fridays and Saturdays.

Roanoke's traffic-calming strategies should add to pedestrian safety.

But don't take anything for granted.

Just up the block from where the SUV and I crossed paths, I stood at the intersection of Franklin Road and Jefferson Street and waited for the light to turn green so I could cross.

It turned green, I started across and saw a young woman in an old car heading south toward me.

I walked. She drove. I walked. She drove.

I reached the middle of Jefferson and she suddenly looked up, saw the red light, hit the brake pedal and beamed at me with an oops-like smile.

I smiled back, happy that I was alive to do so.