Del. Bronrott says it's going to take a while to dig ourselves out of pedistrian safety hole

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: 25 Dec. 2000 : Indian American's death spurs traffic safety drive : WASHINGTON: The case of an Indian American hit-and-run victim has led to soul-searching by officials of Maryland's Montgomery County, located between Baltimore and Washington, who have vowed to launch a campaign to reduce pedestrian peril. : Rajiv S Vaidya, 26, a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University who had moved to the area from Northern California in August, died after being taken off the life-support system on the wishes of his parents. He had been in coma since being struck by a car on December 8. : According to family and friends, the aspiring writer, who had a couple of hours to spare before meeting his fiancee and college friends at a Smithsonian museum for a film, had left his apartment to run an errand or get a snack. As he waited on the median to cross East West Highway near 16th Street, a car drove up, hit a sign and then struck Vaidya. : According to the police, witnesses said the driver stopped, but only to pull the fender away from a tire before driving away. : Vaidya, who died of head and internal injuries, became the 14th pedestrian fatality this year in Montgomery County. County leaders have now announced increased efforts to curb aggressive driving and encourage pedestrians to walk with caution. : County Executive Douglas M Duncan, a Democrat, at a news conference where he was flanked by Vaidya's family, said, "Crossing the street in Montgomery County should not be a death-defying act." : Delegate William A Bronrott, a Democrat who represents Montgomery County in the state legislature and heads the pedestrian committee, blamed suburban sprawl for causing unsafe conditions and acknowledged that "it's going to take a while to dig ourselves out of this hole." : Bronrott said the 14 pedestrian deaths in Montgomery County this year were only one less than the homicide total. He said last year 17 people died while crossing the street in the county -- one of the largest in Maryland and one with a significant Indian American community -- compared to 13 homicide victims. : Duncan, who in June launched a panel to study pedestrian safety, said the county was starting an awareness campaign, including broadcast and print advertisements. : Vaidya's parents said Rajiv loved watching films, reading literature and philosophy and writing stories and screenplays, which he hoped some day would be published and made into movies. (IANS)

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