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'It's heartbreaking,' Pedestrian Safety Review Board chairman on 3 weekend fatalities

Six pedestrians have been hit and killed by cars in Macon-Bibb since January. Three of those deaths happened over the weekend.

Trains, cars, and buses -- all modes of transportation around Macon-Bibb, and if you drive around town, you'll notice a lot of people walking, too. Some choose not to use a crosswalk.

Dezmond Flournoy works at Fincher's BBQ on Gray Highway and says he sees people jaywalk in front of the restaurant every day -- he's even witnessed a few accidents.

"It just kills me to see how people just walk across the street with no hesitation and don't think about it," says Flournoy.

Since 2014, the coroner's office says there's been 38 pedestrian fatalities in Macon-Bibb. Three of them happened between last Friday and Sunday.

Tom Ellington is the chairman of the Macon-Bibb Pedestrian Safety Review Board.

"It's heartbreaking, it's not just frustrating, because that's 3 lives lost over the weekend," says Ellington. "We have embraced the goal of 'Vision Zero' which is to have zero pedestrian fatalities in Macon and Bibb county and obviously we are not there yet."

Ellington says in February, the board began a $20,000 campaign called "On The Move," paid for by a grant from the Governor's Office of Highway Safety.

"We've made some progress, but we're still in a dangerous situation," says Ellington.

So why is this such a problem in Macon-Bibb?

"We have a situation here where there are a lot of people who are in poverty who may not have their own vehicles and who are dependent on where they can get on foot," says Ellington.

Ellington says there are other factors, too, like areas that need updated sidewalks or crosswalks, but no matter the issue, the goal of the board will always be to protect pedestrians.

"The most vulnerable people out there are pedestrians, because we don't have a wall of metal around us -- we're flesh and blood, and at a moderate to high speed, a crash with a vehicle will kill," says Ellington.

Ellington says the board will meet again on May 15th to discuss the recent pedestrian fatalities.

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