Craig Fritz

Journalism: Projects: Pedestrian Deaths

For as long as records have been kept in New Mexico, people on foot have been struck and killed with alarming frequency. According to the most recent rankings, in 2003 New Mexico is first in the nation for pedestrian deaths per capita. Alcohol, roadway design and poor driving are some of the factors that come into play. 

  • A young family with friends hurries across Central Avenue east of Pennsylvania Street with a baby stroller in tow. One roadway engineer calls this particular stretch of road the {quote}Red Streak of Death.{quote}
  • Christelle Gonthier listens to a poem being read at a memorial for Elodie Brenas. The two were friends and French language teaching assistants at the University of New Mexico where the memorial took place. Brenas was hit by a car on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard near Maple Street on Sept. 1, 2003, and later died from her injuries.
  • In an effort to make busy intersections safer, designated brick walkways with visual reminders have been installed in Albuquerque. Jesus Lujan waits to break up concrete with a sledge hammer at the intersection of Third Street and Roma Avenue.
  • Outside the Mustang gas station, formerly the {quote}My Place{quote} bar, Paul, left, and Ben wait for a willing customer to buy them more beer on a Friday night. Still drunk, the two made their way across the four lanes of State Route 64 and past Zia Liquors to walk home in Fruitland, N.M.
  • Unable to stand because, as he admitted, {quote}I drank too much,{quote} Renee Russell tries to wave down a ride along busy Central Avenue. Vehicles swerve to miss his feet as he sits in a service driveway for Home Depot east of the Eubank intersection. Russell, who passed out on the sidewalk, was later given aid by passersby and the fire department.
  • Arnold Sargeant swims laps in the pool at his home in Los Ranchos, N.M. He and his late wife, Kit, tried to swim a half mile, 88 lengths, every morning for more than 20 years. He continues the routine alone.
  • Arnold Sargeant swims in the pool at his home in Los Ranchos, NM. He and his wife, Kit, tried to swim a half mile, 88 lengths, every morning for more than 20 years. He continues the routine alone.
  • Following school at Albuquerque's Del Norte High School, students stand in the median waiting for a break in traffic so they can cross to the safety of the sidewalk. The intersection San Mateo and Montgomery Boulevard is one of the busiest and most deadly the city.
  • A stuffed bear lies on the ground near the intersection of Copper Avenue and Tramway Boulevard where Jennifer McDargh, 11, was struck while walking home from school on April 16, 2001. The disheveled memorial, erected by classmates and friends, has been relocated underneath an elevated crosswalk at the intersection which Jennifer chose not to use.
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