BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — The Louisiana Highway Safety Commission is shining a light on a growing crisis: pedestrian safety.

Each year, cars strike and kill about 1,400 people nationwide. In Louisiana alone, 160 pedestrians lose their lives annually, more than the combined number of motorcyclists and bicyclists killed.

“This is very personal,” said Jenni Peters, a runner and owner of Varsity Sports. “I think of the people I run with every day, and several of them have had pedestrian accidents and been hit by cars.”

At a press conference on Wednesday, state leaders called the numbers unacceptable.

“At the end of the day, every fatality is preventable,” said Glen Ledet Jr., Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. “Behind every statistic is a ne

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