SAN ANTONIO – Culebra Road has a reputation, and neighbors say it isn’t one of safety.
“It’s not safe,” Vincent Robinson said. “There’s always an accident on Culebra Road.”
In the last month, KSAT has covered multiple pedestrian-vehicle crashes on Culebra Road. Some have been deadly, while others have resulted in serious injuries. Since the start of the year, a spokesperson for the San Antonio Police Department said there have been more than 50 of these deadly crashes across the city. Safety advocates say rising statistics for Culebra Road come as no surprise.
“Culebra Road is a very busy road,” said Dean DeSoto, the director of the Community Alliance of Traffic Safety. “People are used to this, and I think that’s one of the issues.”
Why is Culebra Road such a problem? DeSoto said limited lighting, spread-out crosswalks, and speeding problems are all reasons.
“The pedestrian, in most cases, always has the right of way,” DeSoto said. “People live and die on the roadways, and that can be avoided if we practice more humanity.”
The city has been searching for a solution, looking at new funding as a possible way to fix infrastructure issues. In the meantime, Jennifer Northway, the Director of Injury Prevention at University Health, said both drivers and pedestrians should take more safety precautions.
“It really does boil down to those simple things of looking both ways, making eye contact with the driver, not crossing between parked vehicles crossing at the intersection,” Northway said.
To read more about safety practices to avoid these accidents, click here.
