Distracted drivers.
Impatient, sometimes impaired walkers.
It's a dangerous combination, law enforcement officials say.
Six pedestrians have been killed in the Wichita metropolitan area in the past 10 months — the highest rate in at least four years.
The most recent death was a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time: A 56-year-old man was walking on a sidewalk along Maize Road near the Panera Bread at NewMarket Square on Friday afternoon when he was struck by a pickup that careered off the street following a collision. He died Saturday.
Other recent victims, however, put themselves in harm's way.
Steve Wittrig, 24, was killed when he and a buddy tried to cross I-235 on foot just north of the Kellogg interchange shortly after 2 a.m. Feb. 19.
A driver coming from westbound Kellogg onto northbound I-235 hit Wittrig just north of the ramp.
Six pedestrian deaths in that amount of time isn't unusual. Wichita recorded five in 2009, one in 2008 and five in 2007.
Statistics reflect a decline in pedestrian deaths in Kansas — from 33 in 1998 to 19 in 2008, the most recent year for which numbers are available.
But authorities say they are still concerned about the prevalence of risky behavior.
"A lot of it is inattention — and a lot of that is on the part of pedestrians," said Lt. Joe Schroeder, head of the accident follow-up unit.
Read the complete story at kansas.com