COLUMBUS, Ohio — Some residents in the King Lincoln-Bronzeville neighborhood are calling for more traffic devices after a man was seriously injured in a hit-and-run accident on Monday.
Columbus police said it happened just after 11 p.m. at the crosswalk on East Broad Street and Hoffman Avenue.
According to the traffic crash report, the man was crossing East Broad Street in a marked crosswalk with yellow flashing lights when a car hit him and drove off.
The man was rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. The report said the man suffered a brain bleed and a broken hip.
Accidents like this are what Willis Brown has been working to prevent.
"I've been going to [city council meetings], asking begging, pleading to put some traffic calming devices,” he said.
Brown lives in the neighborhood and he’s the president of the Bronzeville Neighborhood Association.
He said too many times people speed through that area on numerous streets, raising a concern for traffic safety. Brown said more safety measures like increased lighting and more warning signs are needed in that area.
"It needs to be a holistic approach with the community [and] the city to put the traffic calming devices in the community. We need them,” said Brown.
A spokesperson with Columbus City Council said members have talked with the association over the last few years about stepping up safety in that area. Councilmembers said they're working to implement measures from the Vision Zero initiative, like traffic lights and pedestrian beckons.
Vision Zero is geared toward ending crash-related deaths and serious injuries in Columbus.
Brown said everything that is implemented could save a life.
"We want a slower, traffic, conscious, community,” said Brown. CPD is still searching for the driver who drove off.