Alarmed by the number of pedestrian deaths, Macon-Bibb Commissioners heard a resolution Tuesday night to review high-traffic Macon road intersections and come up with ways to lower those fatalities.

Commissioner Elaine Lucas sponsored the measure and said the 19 intersections were chosen because they were the places where major car-pedestrian accidents and fatalities occurred over the last two years.

"That's a significant number," said Lucas.

She said the proposal gets a significant boost by the county Board of Health, which has deemed the pedestrian deaths as a public health problem.

"The resources of the Board of Health will be put together with the efforts of the city and county to try and stem the tide of these awful deaths," Lucas said. She added that the Macon-Bibb Board of Education is also supportive of the study since they want to encourage more students who can walk to school to do so.

While the Traffic Fatalities unit of the Macon-Bibb County Sheriffs Office says pedestrian judgment is largely to blame for these deaths, Lucas said that doesn't end the discussion on prevention.

"If there is anything that we can do as a commission as a board of health (as) public safety officials, (as) a school system, to decrease the number of lives that are lost, then it doesn't matter to me who's at fault," she said.

The resolution calls for an evaluation by the county Facilities Management Department to evaluate lighting and safety precautions at those intersections. The measure will be presented to Macon-Bibb Commission committees next Tuesday.

Tags: Macon, Macon-Bibb County, Macon-Bibb Commission, roads, pedestrians, accidents