On Dec. 10 at about 4 p.m., John Lacki stepped off the curb and into the crosswalk on West Shore Road at the Conimicut Post Office. In the next moments, his life changed. A car driven by Joseph Woods, 18, also a Conimicut resident, struck him. Lacki was thrown over the car, breaking both legs. Fortunately, he lived, although he remains hospitalized.

According to the Department of Transportation, every year from nine to 16 pedestrians of the 540 and more that are involved in traffic accidents die. In 2013, the last year for state records, 14 pedestrians died in traffic accidents. In the same year, 17 motorcyclists lost their lives. Overall, traffic fatalities that include motor vehicle and bicycles pedestrian accidents have dropped from 103 in 2003 to 65 in 2013.

The numbers of pedestrian traffic accidents vary little from year to year, although the state has experienced a steady decline in the number of automobile fatalities.

The goals of the state highway safety plan for fiscal year 2015 is to “at least maintain” the five year average of pedestrian fatalities at 11. Overall, the plan calls for a 12 percent reduction in fatalities to 61. The plan calls for a 20 percent reduction from 507 serious injury accidents to 406 for the year.

Traffic engineers, police, schools, the Attorney General and neighborhood associations are among the groups looking for ways to improve pedestrian safety. Many agree motorists and pedestrians must share the responsibility. They also are looking for ways to remind motorists and get them to slow down and for measures to make pedestrians more visible to motorists.

If anyone in Warwick is mindful of safety, it is Col. Stephen McCartney. McCartney is up early and has completed his routine at the gym and is headed home on Cowesett Road by 5:30 a.m.

“I don’t see them until I’m right on them,” he said of joggers who have chosen the windy and often narrow road to run.

“They really have to be cognizant of what they’re doing,” he said.

McCartney identifies Warwick Avenue and Post Road as two of the city’s most dangerous roads for pedestrians. Both are four-lane highways and have long straight stretches between lights that enable motorists to gain speed and prompt pedestrians to cross outside of crosswalks. There are a couple of pedestrian activated traffic signals outside of those at intersections at Meadowbrook Terrace on Warwick Avenue and at the Airport Radisson Hotel on Post Road.

But, as was the case several years ago, when an elderly pedestrian was killed crossing Warwick Avenue at Meadowbrook Terrace, even traffic lights can’t prevent accidents.

The state is reluctant to install the lights for the very reason that, unless there is a high level of foot traffic, motorists become accustomed to the light being green and are not watching for it to change or for pedestrians, said Steven Pristawa, Chief Civil Engineer for Traffic Engineering at the DOT and secretary of the State Traffic Commission.

“Pedestrians are a secondary thought and you’re going though a light that is green all the time. You’re not expecting it to change,” he said.

He also says lights and crosswalks create a false sense of security and that pedestrians need to look and take action even where they have the right of way. They shouldn’t presume motorists are watching out for them.

“Make eye contact with the person [the motorist] and wait for them to stop before you go out,” he said.

Pristawa sees improving pedestrian safety as a combination of addressing human behavior and engineering. The behavior side of the equation he sees as a matter of educating both drivers and pedestrians. He points to the “It can Wait” campaign initiated by Attorney General Peter Kilmartin directed at teen drivers that underscores the dangers of texting and driving. In 2014, Kilmartin brought the program to 21 high schools. He said the DOT also brings programs to senior centers and elderly housing that offer tips for pedestrians and drivers. Tips are also available on the RIDOT website.

Ginny Barham, president of the Conimicut Village Association, questions whether crosswalk improvements the group has been pushing for since last fall would have averted the Lacki accident. She requested painting the area within the lines of the crosswalk blue to get it to stand out and suggested painting “crosswalk ahead” on the pavement as well as a standup crossing sign in the road as in Pawtuxet Village.

In a Dec. 22 letter, Mayor Scott Avedisian responds to Barham, saying that, from his exchange with Pristawa, the Federal Highway Administration only allows subdued colors within a crosswalk, such as paving bricks and paving stones. He writes that the association membership “will need to decide if painting the interior of the crosswalk the subdued color of paving bricks would be sufficient.”

In an earlier correspondence, Avedisian raised the issue of city responsibility for the maintenance and plowing of the crosswalk, which is actually a state highway, if the city did the painting. In the recent letter, he said he was assured the state would continue to plow and maintain the crosswalk.

As for an in-road signs, which are on rubber bases and designed to spring upright after being hit by a car, Pristawa said the Federal Highway Administration restricts them to areas where the speed limit is 25MPH or less. At higher speeds, signs “could become projectiles” that could injure motorists and pedestrians. Avedisian pointed out that an inroad sign at the post office was installed some years ago, but it didn’t last longer than a week before it was destroyed.

Pristawa said municipalities are responsible for in-road signs and for removing them before roads are plowed.

Another option is raised crosswalks, like those on Fair Street in vicinity of St. Peter’s School, and speed bumps, like those on entering City Park.

Pristawa said one of the largest of raised crosswalks is in front of the State House on Smith Street. He said even that walk, that looks like it could launch a speeding vehicle, fails to slow down some motorists. His advice is for pedestrians not to assume they’re in a safe zone and to be sure that a motorist sees you before stepping into the street.

Chief McCartney said there has been “reluctance” on the part of the city to install raised crosswalks and speed bumps because of the liability they present. The bumps have been the source of claims against the city and damaged fire apparatus.

In an interview last week, Sgt. Earl Read said police checked Woods’ cell phone and it was not in use at the time of the accident. He said charges would be brought but, as of yesterday, no charges had been filed against Woods.

Lacki remains a patient at Rhode Island Hospital