While the Anchorage Assembly leftist majority skirts responsibility for its liberal jaywalking ordinance, which went into effect last October, yet another death has occurred on Anchorage streets.
On Tuesday at 3:48 p.m., Anchorage police responded to the area of West Benson Blvd. and Dawson Street for reports of a pedestrian who had been struck by a vehicle. That makes three such hits in a week in Anchorage.
Initial indications are that an adult female was crossing Benson Blvd. near Dawson Street when she was struck by a GMC Sierra travelling eastbound on Benson Blvd.
The woman was transported to a local hospital by fire department medics for what were described as life-threatening injuries.
No charges have been filed at this time, police said.
The accident occurred an hour after some Assembly members had a press conference to explain how they will try to get speed limits lowered around Anchorage and install more street lighting in Anchorage to avoid the increase in vehicle-caused deaths of pedestrians.
However, as with many of the other deaths, the accident occurred during the daytime when additional street lighting would have not helped visibility. Benson is one of the busiest streets in Anchorage.
Assemblywoman Meg Zaletel said she was outraged at the lack of outrage in the city over the pedestrian deaths.
“That means in the municipality alone, we are on track to surpass the statewide record for pedestrian deaths, which was 13 in 2022,” Zaletel said. Two hours later that 13th death occurred.
“I am outraged at the lack of outrage in this community,” she said, not taking responsibility for the ordinance that has encourage pedestrians to walk into the roadways, with many drivers reporting numerous close calls with pedestrians who seem to want to tempt fate by making unsafe crossings.
Poor Meg should be outraged. But it is not the drivers of the vehicles nor the citizens of our fine city who should bear the brunt of her ire. They did not vote to tell pedestrians that they are now entitled to asphalt anywhere it appears, the cars be damned. She should be outraged that she is still on this path of self-destruction of her own city, one ordinance at a time.
Not here city. She isn’t from here and, like Rivera and Constant, has been a pox on our city since she got here. A person doesn’t intentionally destroy something that they value. to enrich themselves.
Oh there’s outrage alright.
Please stop blaming getting rid of the jaywalking law as causing these accidents. They are caused by people, both pedestrians and drivers not paying attention. Jaywalking laws wouldn’t have stopped anyone from what happened.
Just like laws against murder haven’t stopped murder. The real question is: If there is no law against murder, would there be more or less murders? Similarly, if there is no law against jay walking, would there be more or less jay walking (and being hit by a car)? You don’t have to have much of a brain to figure that one out.
Agreed, just like drug laws haven’t stopped that issue.
Jaywalking law didn’t make money but targeting drivers instead of people walking in front of vehicles, will. Much easier to target law abiding taxpayers than drunk, drugged vagrants.
Stupid Hurts…….
The law was changed so the police aren’t troubled or shamed. Now they can look the other way and not feel shame for not attempting to curtail or write a citation that would be thrown on the ground immediately after be handed to the offender. Which by way is more than a 1000 to 1 odds of being an urban invader. Handing $$ to them at the intersection is the lure. F’d up every night AND is the prize.
U r clueless.
Think sobriety may have? Maybe being ripped out of your gourd in public beside 50mph traffic is a possible problem? You know like, generally speaking? Spitballing here.
Exactly! People are choosing to walk a certain way in public. It’s their choice. If it isn’t safe, a person doesn’t have to walk.
For f*ck’s sake, if it’s not safe, choose another area to walk. It’s that simple.
What I don’t understand is why people think the government should have anything to do with this, one way or another. People need to take responsibility for their own safety and well-being.
“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.” – Samuel Adams
Headlines should read “pedestrian walks in front of traffic and dies”
Trust me, Meg Zaletel, I am outraged – at you! The police need an ordinance, one requiring an arrest, bail, and fines (or jail time), in order to deal meaningfully with so many pedestrian-miscreants. This open-air madhouse of a city and the resultant pedestrian deaths are largely YOUR fault, which you share with the other leftist-prog kooks on the muni Assembly. Do the right thing, and resign from office. Tomorrow will not be too soon!
Muni drivers may need to go back to WW 2 style.
As long as it’s open season on pedestrians, start painting stick figure outlines on the drivers quarter
panel.
See who becomes Megs first ace.
Anyone else wanting to know the BAC of this “poor soul”?
I read the ADN and APM articles and the questions I have are never answered.
Like what was a 79yo native gentleman doing crossing the street in a dark area at night?
Meggie is upset? Interesting, she should take another 7 week vacation to Europe.
That will solve the issue. Did she go hand out ACEH reflective safety vest to the inebriates she has “streeted”
Anyone else see the correlation to our increased homelessness situation?
Anchorage has become Alaska’s “statue of liberty for homelessness”…that beacon has filled our streets with the waste material from MANY other villages and cities.
“Give me your drunken, your mentally ill, your huddled inebriate masses yearning to panhandle, steal and harass good folks “.
Well. It is one way to deal with the inebriated population. Very progressive indeed!
Pedestrians using crosswalks save lives and doesn’t cost the tax payers a dime.
The assembly is responsible for the deaths of the jaywalkers and the life long trama drivers involved in these accidents suffer.
All according to the plan to get more and more control. Adding streetlights and lowering speed limits while using the deaths of people who died during daylight hours after having passed a law allowing people to walk freely in traffic, leftists sure do enjoy gaslighting on any issue that they can use to further the cause.
Lance, you may have an argument on the jaywalking ordinance, one must keep in mind you are not protected unless you are in a crosswalk. Why on earth would you encourage playing in traffic to begin with. There was no reason for that ordinance, none. You play in traffic, the outcome will not be a good one. Does meg not understand she is encouraging the dimmest bulb in the string to cross where drivers aren’t expected to expect that? I will also agree that drivers as a whole are preoccupied with their DAMN PHONES these days. Other than that, your statement may be leaking water.
Stop walking across the middle of the street stop promoting that the vehicles are at fault your clueless decision for allowing this is what caused these deaths Outrage my buns!!!!! It’s your fault for choosing this
I wonder if Assemblymember Zaletel has ever considered whether policies that produce a vast increase in drug-addicted indigent people wandering around the city might tend to correlate with vehicle/pedestrian accidents?
I can almost guarantee that if the homeless population continues to grow, the number of accidents will grow as well, regardless of speed limits.
Zaletel’s approach is consistent with basically turning the Muni over to the homeless/drug-addicted/indigent population. I personally don’t think that is a good long-term strategy.
On multiple occasions, intoxicated homeless individuals have stepped in front of my car or bike, forcing me to slam on the brakes, narrowly avoiding hitting them. This feels punitive toward Anchorage residents who are simply trying to go about their lives. We clearly have a homelessness issue, but slowing down to accommodate this dysfunction is not the solution. Let’s focus on making Anchorage a better place to live.
Meg is more likely outraged she is losing homeless clients for her lucrative business of profiting off them.
If you think streets are dangerous now wait till the mass migration down south reaches the streets of Los Anchorage.
It will be safe for nobody.
My children are already looking for a safe haven elsewhere to raise their family safely.
I watched as a bicyclist rode into oncoming traffic this morning, a car barely missing him. These fools are playing chicken or they are too hopped up to understand the risks they pose to themselves.
Looks like the pedestrians need to use the crosswalks that were designed and built for foot traffic not the middle of a busy multiple lane wide vehicle built road.
How many of these people are Zaletel’s chosen constituents?
The “Karen” Assembly member is outraged…”what a surprise” said no one ever.
Has anyone sorted out the facts?
How many of these unfortunates who have been hit by cars are homeless? It seems the Assembly has recently encouraged the spread of homeless camps all over the Anchorage borough!
How many pedestrians and/or drivers were under the influence of alcohol or other substances in these incidents? Didn’t the Assembly just lengthen the bar hours? (So they could collect more alcohol taxes?)
How many were just workers getting off work to catch the bus home?
How many were shoppers in a hurry just to go to the store?
How many were run down by vehicles exceeding the speed limit?
It seems most traffic in this town travels at 5 to 10 mph above the posted speed limit.
How many were hit by drivers pre-occupied with their cell phones? (Next time you are stopped at
intersection look at the other drivers around and count how many are on their cell phones!)
Every spring there are bicycle – vehicle accidents – many of them from bikers failing to stop at intersections or just crossing in front of on-coming traffic, especially late at night.
Just the facts, please.
Then we can discuss possible solutions.
Thank you for bringing up all those points! We aren’t given the details so how can we solve the problem if we don’t know the trends? What I want to know what were these people wearing? I have personally had to avoid several people walking along the side of the road and yes even along the Seward highway wearing dark clothing so you can barely see them .
Lance you have the same drivers as you had a year ago. The only thing that changed was the jaywalking law and the deaths just keep piling up. I can bet everyone of those drivers are having a problem coming to terms with hitting another person. These pedestrians don’t even look when they step out into the street and there is no time to react even if you were going 10mph. Again we are to be responsible for those who accept no responsibility for their own actions. Granted this is a horrorible thing to happen to anyone.
I disagree with you that resending the law on jaywalking didn’t cause this to happen. Look at the figures. They don’t lie.
Wouldn’t the proper solution be to provide each drunken native with an emasculated white guy to daub the barf from their charge’s lips before allowing them to take flight?
Hooonk!… BLAP! Oh, it’s the driver’s fault, so sad.
Not.
It’s the Mayor and the Assembly’s fault for not having cleaned up Anchorage and now they attempt to deflect blame.
Undoubtedly, “The Bottle” is responsible for many. Ban The Bottle!
Careful with that ban.
First take a look at what happens when people get so desperate for alcohol they resort to drinking unthinkable chemicals to duplicate the high from alcohol.
Scariest things I have ever seen and heard.
Just another reason to not go to Anchorage and to absolutely never drive through it after dark.
Now, if we were actually a state and controlled more than 35% of our own land maybe we could entertain the prospect of building a road around the cesspool that is Anchorage.
Guessing all 13 have been homeless correct?
Another Law will not make stupid people smart……. They are just trying for the Darwin Award.
“The Darwin Awards are a satirical prize that recognizes people who have removed themselves from the gene pool through their own actions”
Beijing China figured out how to try and stop stupid people from crossing the road between crosswalks. They put a barrier in the middle of the road so people can’t cross.
It’s very expensive and wont work here with the amount of snow we get.
Some places fine people for jaywalking……
It’s sad that they died, it was thier actions that did it.
Gee who would of thought giving pedestrians the right of way to walk where ever they want was a good idea?
OH WAIT!! The no-common-sense Democrats did
Is a driver required to yield to a pedestrian who is not in a crosswalk? If not, then there is no problem!
It takes two to tango, and it takes two to have a pedestrian/ vehicular collision. Two stupid people, one motor vehicle, one pedestrian. Not good. It is what it is folks. Furthermore I am outraged at Megs outrage over the lack of outrage. There I said it.
Heaven forbid the left-wing loonies on the Assembly take any responsibility for their actions.
Put the jaywalking ordinance back in effect immediately. Increase the fines drastically. Third offense
gets you jail time.
I live and drive downtown streets daily and the homeless basically think that they can do whatever
they desire and enter the traffic pattern wherever and whenever they desire, often with tragic and
fatal consequences. Some even take it as a challenge.
Stopped at intersection the other day next to me we’re two young men driver smoking a cylindrical glass pipe. Response time for someone high is same as someone high on alcohol. We encourage weed for drivers and pedestrians!
Since I have ridden the bus many times in that area to GET home, I’ve noticed and wondered why there aren’t any crosswalks in that area. There are crosswalks on Northern lights, but none for crossing over on Benson except at the lights. JUST MAYBE… if they’d add a pedestrian crosswalk WITH a light or so in that particular area, just maybe we could save a few more hazards. Between Arctic and Benson on that stretch of the street. JUST an IDEA!!..There are several places of interest. Example: It’s difficult to get to Carls JR. hamburgers, a very popular place.(crossing Benson or Northern Lights)being in the center stretch of land between NL and Benson (in that area).
Looks like another homegrown crisis in what promises to be a long string of LaFrance fails.
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But this latest… mayor and assembly enacting law which they -know- will get people killed, then watching like dime-store dummies, frothing with faux outrage, while 13 people get killed because of what they did?
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All for what, more money, more power?
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Damn, that’s cold… even for Constant, Zalatel, and LaFrance.
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The term “evil” does seem applicable here.
I used to drive in Mexico. Anchorage reminds me of Tijuana in so many ways. People always get hit from being in the middle of the road down in TJ. The only difference is in TJ, no one stops for the pedestrian after they are hit, they are just left in the road until someone cleans up the body. So sad Anchorage is looking 3rd world.
I witnessed the accident myself. The young woman started walking across the road in front of me, and then ran right in front of the truck. The man did not have any time. It was one of the most awful things I’ve ever witnessed, because she just tumbled under his truck and was stuck underneath. I understand the whole speed limit argument that people need to have some common sense but that was the most ridiculous thing to cross then. I also feel extremely terrible for the young man who is driving. What a moment that changed his life and I pray that the woman will be OK. Maybe this will help her straighten out her life.
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