Our View: Bakersfield street must accommodate pedestrians, drivers

City budget hearings can be tedious and mind-numbing. Money in, money out and plans for spending next year. But occasionally, they can shed much-needed light on vexing community problems.

Such was the case at a Bakersfield City budget hearing last month when council debate centered on spending money — mostly one-time federal grant dollars — to improve lethally dangerous roads.

Bakersfield and Kern County have historically ranked deadliest for pedestrians in California, with state data showing car collisions in the city have risen 65% since 2019. During the same period, the county has seen a 143% increase in pedestrian fatalities, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Nationwide, the number of U.S. pedestrians killed in motor-vehicle crashes last year was higher than prepandemic levels, according to a report by the nonprofit safety group Governors Highway Safety Association. An estimated 7,318 pedestrians were killed in those crashes in 2023, 14% more than the 6,412 killed in 2019.

More than 35,000 pedestrians have died in the past five years, according to the group, and the number of deaths rose nearly 77% between 2010 and 2022.

America’s embrace of bigger vehicles, such as pickup trucks and SUVs, an increase in speeding and a lack of pedestrian-friendly infrastructure are partly to blame, the association report concluded.

But in Bakersfield, most of the blame is placed squarely on pedestrians.

Of the 28 pedestrians killed in Bakersfield since last year, 20 were found to be at fault, according to Bakersfield Police Department data.

Arguing during the budget hearing against spending tax dollars on several proposed “Complete Streets” projects, which would overhaul neglected or dangerous thoroughfares with improvements, such as lighting, bike lanes, sidewalks and other improvements, Councilwoman Patty Gray joined in placing the blame on pedestrians.

“Every one of those people that died, it was because they were at fault,” Gray said referencing 2023 city police figures. “If we’re going to talk about this, let’s get our facts straight — that most of those people died because of their (own) fault.”

She added that many of her constituents don’t like the “narrowing of roads,” which are called for in some Complete Streets projects, that merely are expensive ways to “jam up” the city with more traffic.

But advocates say these improvements are research-backed approaches that save lives, ease congestion and promote healthier modes of transportation, like walking and cycling.

And there you have it. A light shone brightly on the vexing problem of increasing pedestrian deaths on Bakersfield city streets.

Should more value be placed on accommodating the needs of vehicles and the convenience of their drivers at the expense of pedestrians, who get in the way?

No doubt, mere humans often are careless. They step off curbs when and where they shouldn’t. They simply aren’t attentive.

But are pedestrians totally to blame when they unexpectedly encountered a vehicle in a poorly lit street, where safe sidewalks are missing? Are they totally to blame when excessive speed limits make simply crossing a street a game of “rushing roulette?”

Bakersfield’s roads must accommodate both vehicles and pedestrians. That requires increasing spending on improvements that some drivers might find “inconvenient.”

Those improvements must embrace pedestrian-oriented street designs that include sidewalks and mid-crosswalk islands.