Most highways are only designed with motor vehicles in mind. Pedestrian safety is an afterthought. So many people who live along the Evangeline Thruway do not have cars. So they are forced to cross the Thruway on foot or by bicycle just to get groceries or get to work.

The Thruway is designed for high speed. Mix in hundreds of pedestrians every day and it should not come as a surprise that so many of those people are killed every year.

But it does come as a surprise. It surprised me. And I bet it surprised you. And that is part of the problem. We have one of the most deadly roads in our state, and no one even knows about it.

That is, in part, because the State Department of Transportation and Development does not report pedestrian fatalities by road. That makes it impossible to identify when a road is particularly dangerous. We only know about these deaths because someone with Bike Lafayette did days of research, searching obituaries and news articles.

That is a problem, because if you can’t identify a problem you can’t even start to fix it.

So we are going to start today. Please sign this petition to the state to begin identifying pedestrian deaths by road. Many other states already do this. People deserve to know. This information should be readily available.

Thank you for signing this petition. Once you have signed, share this with your friends. Together, we can make a difference.