Ten years after 3 kids were killed, we must prioritize safety over speed

By Rob Zako

February 22, 2025

A decade later, the best way to honor those we lost is to redesign Main Street to protect the people we have.

Ten years ago today, a man driving west on Main Street through Springfield ran a red light at 54th Street, hitting and killing three kids. The driver was not under the influence of alcohol but apparently lost attention. The kids and their mother, who was also hit but not killed, were legally crossing Main Street in a marked crosswalk with a green light.

Response

The community turned out to support the family and created a memorial near where the kids perished. People also called for improvements to Main Street to prevent future tragedies.

According to the City of Springfield, “Main Street is consistently ranked as one of the most unsafe city streets in Oregon based on the severity and frequency of traffic crashes. The Oregon Department of Transportation and the City must address this problem to save lives, reduce injuries, and lessen property damage due to crashes. The purpose of the Main Street Safety Project is to select infrastructure solutions that will make Main Street safer for people walking, biking, driving, and taking transit.”

But seven years after the deaths, “the Springfield City Council adopted a resolution to create an alternative plan for Main Street safety improvements. This action means the existing Draft Facility Plan is not moving forward for further consideration.”

Today, the City of Springfield does not appear to be working towards such an alternative plan. Indeed, Main Street hasn’t even been mentioned during recent State of the City addresses.

According to KLCC, the Oregon Department of Transportation has taken these actions since the crash:

In 2014, countdown pedestrian signal heads were installed
In 2015, reflectorized backplates were installed on the signal heads
In July 2016, the speed limit changed to 35 mph (from 40) through this intersection
In 2019, Safety Quick Fix funding was used to implement split phasing signal timing on side street approaches as interim solution until construction project was completed (maintenance forces used to complete this interim solution)
In December 2024, the Main Street & 54th Street project was completed at a cost of $1,989,141.
- Project installed new curb ramps, left turn lanes on the side streets, flashing yellow arrow on side streets, new intersection illumination, new signs and new pavement arrows at the intersection.
- We also implemented a signal timing feature where if the pedestrian push button is activated, the flashing yellow arrow will NOT come up (only a protected green arrow for the left turns) for any of the left turn lanes.

While these actions are welcomed, they likely would not have prevent the tragedy a decade ago.

Need to prioritize safety over speed

Main Street through Springfield is like thousands of others across the country: a 5-lane, undivided state highway that is dangerous by design: intended more for people to drive fast than for people to walk safely.

As the Vision Zero Network explains, higher speeds are more deadly for two reasons.

First, higher vehicle speeds significantly increase likelihood of death. Our bodies can only tolerate so much physical impact. Even small increases in vehicle speed significantly escalate risk of severe injuries and deaths.

Likelihood of death for people walking if hit at these speeds. *Source: AAA Foundation, Tefft, B.C. (2011)*

Second, higher speeds increase a driver’s reaction time and braking distance. We will always face unpredictable, urgent reasons to stop. The speed we’re traveling can make the difference between life and death.

*Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (2015)*

You might think that the solution would be to lower the posted speed limit, as has already been done on Main Street. But most of us tend to drive at the speed that feels safe—to us as drivers. In the heart of Eugene, where Broadway has two narrow lanes with a median planted with trees, few would feel safe driving faster than 20 mph. On the other hand, with five wide lanes, more than Interstate-5 has in rural areas, driving 50 mph or more can feel safe on Main Street—for people driving.

The solution for Main Street is to change the design to so that people will naturally drive at safer speeds. For example, the City of Portland has been experimenting with “rose lanes”: painting the two outer lanes to be limited to buses and right turns, thereby channeling through traffic into the two inner lanes. Doing so naturally causes traffic to slow down—without the need for expansive infrastructure improvements, or adverse impacts on local businesses.

Best of all, as it is only paint, a community can try such an approach and easily reverse course if it doesn’t work out. The City of Eugene did just that with South Willamette Street, restriping lanes for a one-year trial, making it permanent only after the approach had proven to work.

A decade later, the best way to honor those we lost is to redesign Main Street to prioritize the safety of those we have.

Ten years after 3 kids were killed, we must prioritize safety over speed

Response

Need to prioritize safety over speed

See also

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