5 Bangor pedestrians have been hit by cars this year

May 28, 2023

The number of pedestrians hit by vehicles in Bangor is trending just below last year's rate, but topping 2021's pedestrian and vehicle crash numbers.

Thursday's crash that left a 35-year-old man with serious injuries was the fifth pedestrian-vehicle crash in Bangor so far this year. Those five pedestrians make up just a fraction of the 71 who have been involved in vehicle crashes across Maine so far this year, two of which were fatal, according to Shannon Moss, a spokesperson for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

The pedestrian was struck as he crossed Union Street by a vehicle turning left from Main Street onto Union Street in downtown Bangor, according to police. The driver allegedly didn't see the pedestrian in the crosswalk.

One of Bangor's five pedestrian-vehicle crashes happened on a private road, and another happened in a parking lot, according to Lauren Steward, director of the Maine Bureau of Highway Safety.

Bangor's five pedestrians struck by vehicles falls below the six pedestrians involved in vehicle crashes between Jan. 1 and June 1 last year, Moss said. In 2021, however, only three Bangor pedestrians were hit by vehicles within the same timeframe.

None of the city's pedestrian-vehicle crashes so far this year have been fatal — an improvement over the three the city saw last year, Stewart said.

By the end of 2022, 21 people had been hit by vehicles in Bangor, three of which were fatal, according to Moss. Most of those crashes, however, occurred in the last four months of the year.

Last year marked an uptick in pedestrian and vehicle crashes compared with 2021, when Bangor saw 11 such crashes, only one of which was fatal.

By early December last year, Maine had seen 20 fatal pedestrian crashes, tying the number of pedestrian fatalities in 2021 and 2017. Those years set the record for deadliest years for Maine pedestrians.

The number of Maine pedestrians killed in crashes has generally been rising since 2015, when 19 died, according to the Maine Department of Transportation.

With the upward trend in traffic and pedestrian fatalities state and nationwide, Bangor included improving mobility safety as a priority in the city's new 2022 comprehensive plan.

Bangor's 2022 comprehensive plan is a list of goals the city wants to achieve or efforts to continue in the coming years. The document, which got its first update since 2012, is meant to guide city leaders when they make or alter policies and approve future development.

Of the 50 goals listed in the updated comprehensive plan, at least two specifically mention the need to improve infrastructure to ensure people are safe while walking through Bangor. That infrastructure can range from improved crosswalks, signage and traffic calming measures for vehicles in high-crash areas.

Other goals in the plan address the city's desire to improve the safety and convenience of any alternative mode of transportation, including walking, bicycling and using the Community Connector, the region's bus system.

After the state's 20th fatal pedestrian crash last December, Bangor City Engineer John Theriault said engineers previously designed roads and intersections with only large vehicles and trucks in mind. This created large intersections with long crosswalks pedestrians now have to cross.

To combat this trend, Theriault said the city hopes to create 5-foot-wide road shoulders to accommodate bikes and 5- to 6-foot-wide sidewalks that comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act in future road projects, when possible.

Kathleen O'Brien is a reporter covering the Bangor area. Born and raised in Portland, she joined the Bangor Daily News in 2022 after working as a Bath-area reporter at The Times Record. She graduated from... More by Kathleen O'Brien