New Twitter account tracks Indianapolis vehicle crashes with pedestrians and cyclists

An Indianapolis resident has created a Twitter account tracking motor vehicle crashes with pedestrians and bicycles.

Eric Holt hopes the record of accidents collected by @IndyPedCrisis will spur the city to make streets safer.

Indianapolis reported 28 fatal crashes involving pedestrians or cyclists in 2021, according to reporting from the Indianapolis Star.

In 2022, that number increased to 42, according to Holt, who runs the Indy Pedestrian/Cyclist Incidents account. Holt, a cyclist himself, started the account after having a number of close calls on the road.

He said the city has a safety problem that it can solve with better infrastructure.

“We need protected bike lanes. We need sidewalks, and we need lighting for safety,” he said.

The account automatically posts reports from 911 calls in the city that mention pedestrians or cyclists struck by a motor vehicle. That automatic posting method started in June of 2022.

Holt said he initially tried to track data manually – but the number of incidents created a lot of work.

The account currently posts incident reports as often as two times a day. In the rundown for 2022, the account lists 413 nonfatal crashes with cyclists and pedestrians between May 7 and Dec. 31.

“It was way more than I could take on to keep up,” he said.

Holt stressed that even though he is a cyclist, he doesn’t want people to think it’s just hobbyists calling on the city to improve its transportation infrastructure.

“Far more often, the people that are getting hit are the people that are commuting,” he said. “Maybe they get around because they don’t have a car. Maybe they’re lower income, and they have a bike. Maybe they’re walking to a bus stop so they can get to their job. It’s more often people like that who are more vulnerable.”