It's not that quiet of a secret that Oklahoma City is an unsafe hellzone for people not insulated inside a 2-ton bullet of steel and aluminum. There are plenty of citizens in town who can't or don't drive, and both the physical and psychological landscape is not designed for them. Not only are sidewalks and public transit limited and meager for most of the city, but drivers have an absolute disregard for people using bipedal methods to get around.
If you are reading this as a person who does most of their walking from their driveway to their car and then their car through the parking lot, consider this: How much do you complain about your fellow drivers? How they don't use their turn signals, don't pay attention to changing lights, and seem to have a general disregard to the rest of the road? Now, take yourself away from the safety of your side airbags, and consider being just a person on foot and trying to avoid getting plowed down by some dick driving 50 mph while making a live Instagram video.
If this suddenly makes you feel concerned, your fears are validated: OKC is one of the most primo places in the nation to get hit by a car. From KFOR:
OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — Experts with AAA Oklahoma are urging pedestrians and drivers to stay vigilant days after we move the clocks forward for daylight saying time, saying the time change increases pedestrian and driving dangers.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, Oklahoma City was ranked as the third deadliest city in the country for pedestrians.
"As we adjust to different periods of darkness with Sunday’s daylight saving time change, motorists and pedestrians need to take extra precautions as risks increase," said Leslie Gamble, manager or public and government affairs at AAA Oklahoma.
Gamble said 75 percent of crashes involving pedestrians happen in the dark.
"Dark is in the early morning now with this daylight-saving time. We have now a good hour more than we used to. We have this week and weeks to come of darkness," Gamble said.
According to NHTSA, 76 percent of pedestrians are hit in areas such as sidewalks, bicycle lanes, median/crossing islands and other non-traffic areas.
That's a bummer. I guess pesky pedestrians should stay out of places that aren't meant for cars. If only there was something that we could do to prevent all of this...