INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – A large gathering of traffic safety advocates held a memorial walk in Indianapolis for pedestrians and cyclists killed in crashes Sunday. 

Survivors and victims’ families joined local leaders and community organizers on Raymond Street for World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims. 

The group stopped and spoke at several sites of deadly crashes, placing a marker at the intersection where a vehicle killed four-year-old Alan Marcelo Salas-Garcia. The group heard from Tracy Gillard, the widow of Jeff Gillard, who was taken off life support on Saturday after a pickup truck hit him in October. 

“The man that hit my husband took him away from us,” Gillard said. “Pay attention to what you’re doing. Slow down.”

The half-mile walk started at the intersection of Raymond Street and Shelby Street, where Billie Jean Peterson lost her partner, Dillan Lee Rogers. 

“This city really needs to do better at saving lives,” Peterson said. 

There have been 29 pedestrians and cyclists killed in Indianapolis crashes this year, according to the Indy Pedestrian Safety Crisis dashboard. The walk hopes to draw attention to policies which could prevent similar tragedies, including road improvements and traffic enforcement. 

“I think enforcement is a critical component of this, I think education is a critical component,” Indianapolis City-County Councilmember Michael-Paul Hart, a Republican, said. “It’s going to take everybody who lives in this city to be cautious about what they’re doing, how they’re driving. Also, as we’re planning for new developments and new builds, we’re considering pedestrian safety at the same time.”

Along with honoring the victims, the markers on the road serve as a reminder to drivers that simply looking out for pedestrians and slowing down can save lives. The theme of this year’s World Day of Remembrance is “safe speeds save lives.”

Organizers are pushing for funding towards traffic safety improvements and the city’s Vision Zero initiative, which seeks to eliminate all serious traffic injuries and deaths in Indianapolis.

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