Woman Charged in DeKalb County Pedestrian Accident

A Snellville woman who struck and killed a 7-year-old boy on his way to school in  a crosswalk accident earlier this month, is now facing misdemeanor charges of vehicular homicide, and crosswalk and traffic safety violations.

Shirley Rita Ogilvie was driving an SUV when she struck Cameron Dunmore in front of Princeton Elementary School on the 2^nd of February. Cameron was crossing on a designated marked crosswalk with a stationed crossing guard who held a stop sign. Ogilvie failed to stop at the crosswalk, hitting the little boy. He died at the scene of the accident. The area where the accident occurred has high traffic levels, and residents had complained in a petition to DeKalb County about the lack of traffic signals at the spot.

In another unrelated pedestrian accident, a man was struck and killed as he was crossing a block at Peachtree Industrial Boulevard on Saturday morning. The driver of the SUV that hit the man didn't bother staying back to offer the injured pedestrian any help. He drove on ahead, and police are now looking for the SUV.

As this report shows, the dithering economy and Georgia's massive budget deficit are impacting DeKalb County funding for road safety programs. In the absence of funding, essential road building activities like construction of new roads and sidewalks and installation of street lights have been cut. County officials say they have no other choice but to slash endowments for such projects.  Last year, the County spent $19 million on the construction of roads and sidewalk, and bridge repairs. This year, the proposed funding for such projects has dramatically reduced to just $5.5 million. That's bad news for pedestrian safety advocates like this Georgia personal injury lawyer who have been calling for more investment in pedestrian safety programs.

With the recession showing no signs of abating, and the budget deficit still looming as large as ever, it looks like Georgia's pedestrians and motorists will simply have to work together to make these streets safe for all. Motorists must follow all traffic rules, including those related to stopping for pedestrians, giving them right of way, and being extremely cautious near intersections and crosswalks where most of these pedestrian accidents occur.