A pedestrian crosses the street in Downtown Colorado Springs.
/ FOX21: Mike Duran
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- There have been a lot of car versus pedestrian accidents lately in Colorado Springs.
So are the numbers high?
According to the Colorado Springs Police Department in 2010 and 2011 four pedestrians were killed in auto-pedestrian accidents in Colorado Springs.
Compare that to this year, where so far ten people have been killed in eight different incidents.
"When all of a sudden you see ten people who have lost their lives this year because of an auto-pedestrian crash it is very concerning to us," Barbara Miller, Spokesperson for the CSPD, said.
The first death occurred back on January 9, and the most recent two on November 26 when two people were killed while pushing a stalled van on Pikes Peak Avenue near Parkside Drive.
"There is not one answer for all of them, and that would make it very easy for us to solve them or help teach people what to do to prevent them," Miller said. "But if you have studied all these crashes, you see how different they are."
"Pedestrians do have the right of way, but I do also want to reiterate that pedestrians do have to take the ultimate responsibility for their actions in a roadway," Maile Gray, Executive Director with Drive Smart Colorado, said.
Gray said pedestrians should always assume drivers do not see them, unless she said eye contact is made.
"Only because even if you have the right of way or are in a crosswalk, if something happens you are going to lose as a pedestrian," she said.
Gray said pedestrians should walk defensively, and never take risks. She added it is easy to misjudge the speed of traffic.
"More drivers have more distractions going on, you can not assume they are paying 100 percent attention to the road," Gray said.
"You have got to stay on guard and pay attention, be alert of your surroundings and always look out for pedestrians," Miller said.
Drive Smart Colorado has several programs designed to educate children on pedestrian safety.
For more on those, click here.
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