DELHI PRESS
Your Community Press newspaper serving Delhi Township and other West Cincinnati neighborhoods
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2019 ❚ BECAUSE COMMUNITY MATTERS ❚ PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK
Cars keep hitting people. And it’s only getting worse
Carol Eubanks poses with a photo of her son, Mark Eubanks in her West End home. Mark is in the ICU at UC Medical Center after being hit by a vehicle Dec. 28 on Linn Street in the West End. Carol said this was the second time this year her son has been struck by a vehicle. Hannah K. Sparling Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK
It was about 6 p.m., dark and drizzling rain. John Eby was at the corner of Harrison and Epworth avenues in Westwood, waiting to cross the street. The light changed. Eby stepped out. And then – black. “I don’t remember getting hit,” Eby said. “I don’t remember hitting the street.” When he came to, the 57-year-old West Sider was lying on his back, staring up at a big, leafy tree. He rolled over and saw an SUV tire, and that’s when the first shock of pain hit. Eby was one of at least 428 pedestrians hit by a vehicle in Cincinnati in 2018, according to an Enquirer analysis of police crash reports. That’s a 46 percent increase over 2013. And, it’s an average of more than
John Eby crosses the street at the intersection of Harrison and Epworth in Westwood on January 7. He was hit by a vehicle while walking in this crosswalk two days before Thanksgiving. Eby injured his knee and had a mild concussion after the accident, and he considers himself lucky to be alive and walking. PHOTOS BY MEG VOGEL/THE ENQUIRER
eight pedestrian crashes every week. This is a problem plaguing our city and the nation as a whole – more people getting hit and dying as they navigate streets on foot. Experts blame distracted driving, texting while walking and roads that were designed with cars rather than people in mind. The Detroit Free Press points to the rise of SUVs, which, with their higher front ends, are “at least twice as likely as cars to kill the walkers, joggers and children they hit.” Whatever the cause, the consequences of vehicles colliding with people can be devastating. Witnesses told Eby he went up and over the hood of the SUV. There was a big gash in his knee, which was scraped raw and gushing blood. He had a mild concussion, and he was so sore he couldn’t sit up straight for two days. It hurt to breathe, lie down, sit up or walk.
“It hurt all the time for those first two days,” he said. “Honestly, I was just thankful to be alive. … I realized while lying on our couch in pain that if he had been driving 10 miles per hour faster, I may not have been able to spend the holidays with my family ever again.”
It happens all the time Cincinnati’s first pedestrian crash of 2018 was on Jan. 1 at 2:31 p.m. The last of the year was Dec. 31 at 5:05 p.m. There were 426 in between. This matters because, whether it’s the driver or pedestrian at fault, every single crash sucks up police time and resources. Many of these accidents also mean broken bones and hospital bills. There can be painful recoveries and – in the worst cases – family members left behind, grieving a father, a mother, a son, a daughter.
Planning chair: Soccer stadium will ‘elevate us ... internationally’ Sharon Coolidge Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK
Cincinnati’s planning commission recently approved zoning for FC Cincinnati’s Major League Soccer stadium in the West End, but deferred all decisions about infrastructure, parking and design until final plans are presented this spring.
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The decision now heads to city council for approval. And, if that’s granted, it will allow construction to start, which is crucial for the project to stay on track for a March 2021 opening. While not all members of council approved the project, a survey of council members show the plan will garner approval. Currently, only demolition of the site is underway.
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“This project has the potential to have the most impact of any project I’ve seen in the last decade in Cincinnati,” said Planning Commission Chairman Dan Driehaus. “It will elevate us nationally and internationally.” Soccer, he said, is a growing sport; See STADIUM, Page 1A
On Dec. 30, a driver plowed into a family on the Hopple Street sidewalk. The mother and father survived, but the child, a 2-year-old in a stroller, died. In September, 15-year-old Gabriella Rodriguez died after a hit-skip crash on Harrison Avenue. The freshman at Western Hills University High School was crossing the street that morning, trying to get to her bus stop on her way to school. In an update to city council on Monday, Jan. 7, police said there has been no substantial progress in finding the driver who fled the scene. Twelve other Cincinnati Public Schools students were injured in 2018 while crossing the street, leading to protests and calls for change. “These are kids,” said Cincinnati City Councilman Greg Landsman, who is proposing stricter traffic enforcement, more two-way streets and more four-
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