By Larry Felton Johnson

Officer Aaron Wilson of the Cobb County Police Department issued a public information release stating that the department’s STEP Unit is investigating a serious pedestrian injury that occurred on a section of Ernest Barrett Parkway, north of Stilesboro Road, on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, at approximately 8:31 PM.

[It is the policy of the Cobb County Courier to omit the names of people involved in  traffic incidents that are still under investigation]

Investigators report that an unidentified female pedestrian was crossing Ernest Barrett Parkway outside of a designated crosswalk when she was struck by a silver 2019 Mitsubishi Mirage. The pedestrian sustained serious injuries and was transported to Kennestone Hospital.

The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information regarding the incident is encouraged to contact the Cobb County Police Department’s S.T.E.P. Unit at 770-499-3987.

Conditions around the location of the accident

[The Courier has a practice of checking out the road conditions where accidents occurred when it is feasible. These sections of the articles are written from the first-person perspective, with subjective reactions, since the usual third-person text resulted in awkward sentences and understatement of the hazards]

Of all the accident locations I’ve scoped out, road the conditions for pedestrians on Barrett Parkway are among the worst. Even at marked crosswalks, which are few and far between, drivers do not comply with pedestrian right of way, because the roads are engineered for fast traffic throughput, not for quality of life on the ground. Noonday Creek Trail is on one side of the road, but accessing it from the other side on foot is hazardous.

The first thing I do when looking over conditions is park and walk to the markings placed by the officers who responded to the accident. On Barrett Parkway the nearest place to park near the road markings was at the intersection of Old Highway 41, in the Publix shopping center.

I parked and walked to the crosswalks parallel to Barrett Parkway shown in the photograph below. Cars heading from the direction of Old Highway 41 make the turn into the shopping center at high speed, and four cars in a row refused to yield. The crosswalks might as well have been a “hit me” bullseye.

Barrett Parkway facing toward Old Highway 41 at the Publix shopping center

The two photographs below are the markings where the accident occurred. The markings are directly across from the Noonday Creek Trail’s portion along Barrett Parkway. It wasn’t clear from the public information release, but the pedestrian was either heading from the trail, or to the trail.

The police public information release described the pedestrian as having crossed “outside of a marked crosswalk,” but there were no marked crosswalks within a realistic distance. Old Highway 41 is a little over a half mile from the accident markings, and Stilesboro Road is a bit under a half mile, but it’s impossible to walk safely from the accident scene to the Stilesboro Road crosswalks for the reason outlined below.

If a pedestrian attempted to walk to the nearest crosswalks at Stilesboro Road from the location of the accident, this narrowing of the right-of-way to inches would prevent them from safely navigating the trip. I tried it, and if a passing truck with an extended right mirror had passed, I would have been hit.

The photo below shows what traffic is like coming from the direction of Old Highway 41 at the location of the accident.

In summary, the entire stretch of roadway from Stilesboro Road to Old Highway 41 is hazardous unless the pedestrian stays on the Noonday Creek Trail side of the road.

The STEP Unit

The STEP Unit, which investigates serious or fatal traffic crashes, is one of the Cobb County Police Department’s Special Operations units, and is described on the web page of the Cobb County Police Department as follows:

“The Selective Traffic Enforcement Unit is responsible for investigating all fatal traffic crashes, enforcement of traffic laws in those areas which analysis indicates an elevated amount of crashes. 

“They are also responsible for the administration and execution of the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program. 

“They also take part in special security details, and investigate crashes involving Department vehicles when requested.”

The STEP Unit is commanded by Lieutenant Lane Johnson.