RICHMOND, Va. -- On September 11, 2023, Chyann Williams' life changed forever. That day, a driver hit and killed her father, 52-year-old Alonzo Williams, while he walked home from work in Henrico County.
"This is my first holiday without my father and it’s really tough," she said. "It’s really different when you go from talking to someone every day, and then everything is just different."
Two months after her father's death, Williams had a message she wanted to make clear to her community.
"We just ask everyone to be careful, to pay attention, to be aware," she said.
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Her voice was one of several shared at the launch of a new traffic campaign in Henrico on Wednesday.
Together, Henrico County Police and Henrico County Public Works are launching 'Watch out Ahead Henrico' or WOAH, for short.
The initiative is a revamp of their ‘Watch your Step!' campaign and aims to include more safety awareness and measures for all methods of travel including, walking and biking and driving.
"It doesn't matter what mode of transportation you use; we need you to pay attention when you’re using our roadways," Henrico Police Lt. Rob Netherland said. "Our pedestrians and bicyclists out on the roadways are vulnerable users and there's a reason for that because of the protection that they don't have around them, much like a vehicle does. So, we just need people to pay attention."
The initiative includes increased funding for reflective vests to make pedestrians more visible, sidewalks, crosswalks, and slowing down traffic.
"We currently have over 120 active transportation projects," Terrell Hughes, with Henrico County Public Works, said. "Over the past few years alone we’ve lowered the speed limit on over 100 roadways with speed being a major factor in pedestrian and bicycle crashes."
A report shared by the Virginia Department of Transportation said there were 171 pedestrian fatalities documented in 2022, the highest number of pedestrians hit and killed in five years. Henrico County had the second-highest number of pedestrian fatalities (behind Fairfax County) between 2018 and 2022, according to that report.
Williams said while initiatives like these truly help, it’s up to each driver to do their part in saving a life.
"It takes a second to just scoot over, slow down, stop," she said.
Police said the reflective vests are available for people at select police stations across the county and will be given away at community events throughout the year. More information on the campaign can be found on the counties' website.
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