Information About The Crash
On March 16th, MLive posted an article about a crash involving a pedestrian on Nixon Rd. The article, including in the headline, describes that the pedestrian was standing in the bike lane when the collision occurred. This description is not corroborated by the witness account that is recorded in the police report.
The police report indicates that at 9:42AM on March 16th, emergency responders were called to Nixon Rd. near Plymouth. A pedestrian had been struck by a pickup truck that was turning out of the parking lot of the Plymouth Rd. Plaza. The police report indicates “language barrier” and no statement was taken from the injured pedestrian at the time of the incident. The police documentation was shared with CIAA on April 4th and no statement was included as of that time. However, in the report, a witness describes that the pedestrian was standing in the driveway east of the roadway, not the bike lane.
Read the full police report for the Nixon Road crash (PDF)
The location of the crash shown in Google Maps
The location of the crash in Google Streetview
Recommendations
Our primary recommendation is that transportation engineering staff from the City of Ann Arbor analyze the situation and determine what hazards may have contributed to this crash. Considering the proximity to the bus stop, AAATA should be involved as well.
Based on the information that has been shared with the public, it is impossible to know why the pedestrian was standing in the bike lane or driveway. The crash occurred between the bus stop and an important destination, a grocery store. For bus riders who exit the bus at this stop and head for the entrance to the Kroger store, this site of this crash is a potential place to cross Nixon. There is a crosswalk nearby to the south, but crossing there would require some backtracking south on Nixon before heading north to get to the Kroger entrance. This area should be evaluated to make sure that the infrastructure (like the crosswalks) supports the routes that are actually used by pedestrians.