Richmond neighbors continue calling for road safety equipment after two fatal car incidents

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Some Richmond neighbors are pushing for more traffic safety measures after the city saw two deadly pedestrian crashes in nearly a week.

The latest accident occurred on Saturday, Jan. 3, at around 11:30 p.m. along Semmes Avenue, where Richmond Police say a woman was killed in a hit-and-run.

The week before, on Dec. 27, a car had hit Bill Martin, the Valentine museum director in downtown Richmond. Martin later died from his injuries at a nearby hospital the next day.

Pippa Holloway has lived on Semmes since 2021 and helped form the Semmes Avenue Safety Committee. Holloway said she has watched accidents happen time and time again in this area.

She said some policies have been put in place recently to reduce crashes, but it is still not enough to lower the number of accidents.

"The death of the person who died here on Semmes: her life was just as precious as Bill Martin's. Every time a pedestrian is killed in Richmond, that's a terrible tragedy," Holloway said.

Holloway believes the problem stems from people driving too fast and carelessly. As well as the road infrastructure not being designed to slow down traffic.

"We know that a motorcyclist was killed at 9th just earlier this summer, there were two people killed in front of the Valero in the last two years," Holloway said. "So, since I've lived here, there have been at least three bodies on this stretch of Semmes."

Holloway said that work from the General Assembly and safety committee over time, and the addition of speed cameras and other mechanisms, has made cars slow down "a little bit."

She knows there's plenty more work to do, including the General Assembly passing laws for speed cameras on bridges.

Holloway told 8News she will be back in the state legislature this upcoming session, where she will advocate for more cameras.

Virginia law only allows for speed cameras to be used in school zones and construction zones.

"We know that people blow across [the Robert E. Lee Bridge] and they blow across [the Manchester Bridge]. We need cameras on the bridges to slow the rates of traffic across the bridges," Holloway said.