Wall St.Journal 27Feb2020

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. **** Thursday, February 27, 2020 |A

U.S. pedestrian deaths rose
in 2019 to their highest level
in 30 years, even as the na-
tion’s roadway crash fatalities
overall have been falling, a
new report says.
An estimated 6,590 pedes-
trians were killed in motor-ve-
hicle crashes last year, a
nearly 5% increase from the
6,283 deaths in 2018, accord-
ing to the report released
Thursday by the Governors
Highway Safety Association, a
nonprofit that represents state
highway-safety offices.
“It’s a continuation of a
very bad pattern. It’s news
that we don’t want to hear,
but it keeps coming at us,”
said safety researcher Richard
Retting, of Sam Schwartz En-
gineering, who wrote the
analysis.
Possible factors for the in-
crease include smartphone-re-
lated distractions by drivers
and pedestrians; inadequate
roadway lighting and crossing
mechanisms; the large number
of SUVs; and alcohol or other
drug impairment by both driv-
ers and pedestrians. But pin-
pointing exact reasons why is
difficult, Mr. Retting said.
The worsening pedestrian-
safety record has tracked the
proliferation of smartphones,
with the number of devices in
active use nationwide balloon-
ing by more than 400% be-
tween 2009 and 2018, the re-
port said.
Last year’s increase, pro-
jected using hard data for the
first half of the year, marks a
continuation of a decadelong
trend. The number of pedes-
trian fatalities rose by more
than 50%, from 4,109 in 2009,
through 2018.
The total number of all
other types of crash deaths
has edged up 2% in that pe-
riod, the report says.
Overall crash deaths in the

U.S. NEWS

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.—

The RVs started arriving on

Continental Circle about four

years ago. Now they line one

side of the half-mile-long

street in this Silicon Valley

suburb.

Across the Western U.S.,

rising home prices have

pushed more people who

can’t afford houses or apart-

ments to live in vehicles, in-

cluding RVs. In Los Angeles,

16,500 people called a vehicle

their home last year, accord-

ing to local counts. In San

Francisco that figure was

1,800, up 45% from 2017, and

in Santa Clara County, which

includes Mountain View, the

number nearly tripled over

that same time frame to 1,747.

There are no reliable national

figures on the trend.

“We are seeing that it is

cheaper to live in your car or

RV than to rent,” said Candice

Elder, executive director of

East Oakland Collective, a lo-

cal nonprofit in that city

where about 1,400 people lived

in recreational or other vehi-

cles last year.

An estimated half a million

people are homeless in the

U.S., with the problem most

acute along the Northeastern

seaboard and West Coast

where housing costs are high-

est, White House officials said

in a 2019 report. If the prob-

lem has an epicenter, it is the

San Francisco Bay Area, the

nation’s most expensive hous-

ing market, where median

housing prices have nearly

doubled to about $1 million

over the past eight years, ac-

cording to real-estate listing

service Zillow.

As with homeless encamp-

ments that block sidewalks, RV

living is creating its own ten-

sions. Residents on the streets

where people park the large

vehicles complain that sewage-

tank dumping and drug use

are common and that there are

no parking spots left for them.

“I don’t think there’s any-

thing compassionate in en-

abling people to live on the

streets,” said Shari Emling, a

Mountain View resident who

has advocated for restrictions

on RV living. The city, which is

home to the headquarters of

Alphabet Inc.’s Google, had

about 300 people living in ve-

hicles last year, triple the

number from 2016.

Homeless advocates say liv-

ing in an RV is a step up from

living on the street, even

though most of the vehicles

are old and in poor condition.

In Seattle, where an esti-

mated 2,147 people live in ve-

hicles, the city is weighing a

plan to tow and destroy unsafe

RVs. The Bend, Ore., city coun-

cil last year passed an ordi-

nance to shorten the time ve-

hicles can be parked in any

one location to three days

children can play and use the

restrooms.

“I let my daughter draw a

little at night with the light

from my phone, but we have

to go to bed early,” said the

single mother, who like many

of her neighbors doesn’t have

a generator for power.

Mountain View City Council

in September passed an ordi-

nance that would ban RVs on

most city streets. About 70 ve-

hicles would be allowed to

move into designated lots on a

temporary basis. After a peti-

tion drive by activists, the ban

has been put on hold.

The RV population explod-

ing across the West is forcing

communities to reconsider

what it means to be homeless.

The U.S. Department of Hous-

ing and Urban Development

still counts those living in RVs

as unsheltered, the same cate-

gory as those living in tents or

subway tunnels.

Decades-old RVs and camp-

ers, which make up the major-

ity of those seen on city

streets, can often be acquired

for a few thousand dollars.

While RV parks often provide

electric and water hookups, RV

owners say parks tend to dis-

criminate against older vehi-

cles, leaving the streets as the

only option.

“It gets really, really cold

here at night,” said Mountain

View RV owner Jan Stevens,

before cutting off her gener-

ator on a recent chilly eve-

ning to save the remaining

natural gas.

Mountain View Mayor Mar-

garet Abe-Koga said some RV

dwellers weren’t living in

them by necessity but to save

on rent. “We want to help

those who don’t have other

options, but the folks who

choose to live in RVs, I don’t

think there’s sympathy for

that,” she said.

BYJIMCARLTON

ANDWILLPARKER

More Call Vehicles Their Home

Jan Stevensis among hundreds of people living in recreational vehicles in Mountain View, Calif., a growing phenomenon on the West Coast.

ELIJAH NOUVELAGE FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Livingarrangementsforhomelesspopulation

SantaClaraCounty AlamedaCounty

Shelters†

2017 2019 2017 2019

Outdoors*

Buildings

Vehicles

Other

Shelters†

Vehicles

Outdoors*

0%

20

40

60

80

100

Buildings

*Includes tents †Includes hotels and motels

Source: the counties

my way to Milwaukee now be-

cause in the hours and days

ahead, the most important

thing is that we support and

care for each other.”

He said the company would

close its Milwaukee office for

the rest of the week and that

the Milwaukee brewery would

remain shut down “for the

time being.”

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Bar-

rett called the shooting an

“unspeakable tragedy.”

“Five families, six families

actually, are grieving and will

be grieving because of this

horrific act,” he said at a news

conference Wednesday.

At the start of a press brief-

ing about the spread of the

coronavirus Wednesday eve-

ning, President Trump ex-

tended his condolences. “Our

hearts break for them and

their loved ones,” Mr. Trump

said of the victims.

The beer giant’s Milwaukee

campus houses administrative

offices, a modern brewing fa-

cility and the historic brewery

of Miller beer, where the com-

pany hosts tours for the public.

The maker of Coors Light

and Miller Lite in October said

it planned to cut between 400

and 500 jobs as part of a

broader restructuring as it

looked to expand beyond beer

into other beverages. At the

end of 2019, Molson Coors had

17,700 employees globally, in-

cluding about 7,300 in the U.S.

An employee opened fire
Wednesday at the Molson
Coors BeverageCo. facility in
Milwaukee, killing five people
before dying of an apparent
self-inflicted gunshot wound,
according to law-enforcement
and company officials.
Milwaukee Police Chief Al-
fonso Morales said five Mol-
son Coors employees were
killed by the shooter, a 51-
year-old Milwaukee man. No
other people were injured, the
police chief said. Law-enforce-
ment officials initially said
there were seven dead.
Some employees remained
in the facility as law enforce-
ment checked the building and
slowly released the more than
1,000 employees Wednesday
evening, Chief Morales said.
In a message to workers
Wednesday, Molson Coors
Chief Executive Gavin Hatters-
ley identified the gunman as
an “active employee” of the
company and confirmed the
deaths of five others.
Mr. Hattersley was in Hous-
ton on Wednesday for the
company’s distributor conven-
tion. He left the gathering
early to fly to Milwaukee, a
spokesman said.
“There are no words to ex-
press the deep sadness many
of us are feeling right now,”
Mr. Hattersley wrote. “I am on

BYERINAILWORTH
ANDDANFROSCH

Gunman Kills Five

At Molson Coors Plant

U.S. dropped by about 3.4% in

the first half of 2019 from the

first half of 2018, according to

projections by the National

Highway Traffic Safety Admin-

istration. Crash deaths fell

2.4% for all of 2018 from the

year before, to 36,560, NHTSA

reported in October.

The overall decline in re-

cent years has come as auto

makers roll out more crash-

avoidance technologies such

as automatic emergency brak-

ing and sensors to help drivers

avoid collisions. “Cars are

much safer today,” Mr. Retting

said. “That doesn’t help pedes-

trians a whole lot.”

Nearly half of all pedestrian

deaths in the first six months

of occurred in just five

states—California, Texas, Flor-

ida, Georgia and Arizona—and

the report cited the warmer

climate in those states as a

possible factor.

The bulk of the increase in

U.S. pedestrian fatalities dur-

ing the past decade has in-

volved nighttime incidents,

Mr. Retting said. From 2009 to

2018, the number of pedestri-

ans killed in crashes after dark

jumped 67%, compared with a

16% rise in daytime pedestrian

fatalities.

About 60% of pedestrians

died in 2018 on busier multi-

lane roads called non-freeway

arterials, the report said, and

most of those killed on foot

died midblock rather than at

intersections.

In addition to better light-

ing, Mr. Retting suggested mu-

nicipalities install more tools

such as beacons that let pe-

destrians or cyclists activate a

red light to stop vehicle traf-

fic.

Safety experts say SUVs are

more likely than cars to kill

pedestrians because they

weigh more and have a higher

profile. The number of deadly

incidents involving SUVs in-

creased by 81% from 2009 to

2018, compared with a 53%

rise for passenger cars.

Inebriation continues to be

a major factor, the report said.

In about a third of all pedes-

trian crash deaths, the pedes-

trian’s blood-alcohol concen-

tration exceeded the legal

limit for driving, the report

said, while roughly 16% of

drivers in such crashes were

above the limit.

The report has some posi-

tive news. Pedestrian deaths

fell in the first half of 2019,

compared with the same pe-

riod in 2018, in 20 states and

Washington, D.C.

Six states—Arizona, Geor-

gia, Louisiana, Pennsylvania,

Illinois and Mississippi—saw

double-digit drops in the num-

ber and percent change from

the first half of 2018.

BYSCOTTCALVERT

Pedestrian Deaths

Keep Increasing,

Hit 30-Year High

Pedestriantrafficfatalities

Sources: Governors Highway Safety
Association

Note: 2019 figure is a full-year projection based
on data from the first half of 2019.

7, 000

0

1 , 000

2 , 000

3, 000

4 , 000

5, 000

6 , 000

2010 ’ 12 ’ 14 ’ 16 ’ 18

from five. Los Angeles in July

reinstated a ban on people

sleeping in vehicles overnight.

Celerina Navarro earns

$1,400 a month as a house-

keeper in Mountain View,

where her two younger chil-

dren attend school. She moved

her family into a recreational

vehicle four years ago after

her landlord increased the

rent of the room they lived in

to $1,200 a month from $800.

The average rent for a studio

apartment in Mountain View is

$2,247, according to Apart-

ments.com.

Along with some other

families living in their vehi-

cles, Ms. Navarro parks her

RV next to a city park so her

The growing RV

population has led to

a rethink of what it

means to be homeless.