'It’s breaking my heart': Most pedestrian deaths in Omaha in at least 5 years, city says
Walter Tighe, 89, was crossing Center Street on foot on a crisp October day in midtown Omaha, on his way to the first of two Masses he attended each day at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church.
With his distinctive fedora perched on top of his head, Tighe stepped onto Center Street around 7:30 a.m. He would not make it across.
A speeding, westbound silver Chevrolet Silverado pickup struck Tighe and then fled, police said. Tighe died at the scene.
Tighe's granddaughter, 25-year-old Kassie Tighe, is among a growing number of people grieving amid Omaha's upward tick of pedestrian injuries and deaths. Walter Tighe is one of 14 pedestrians who have been killed in Omaha so far this year — the most in at least five years — with several weeks still to go before year's end.
"It's breaking my heart so bad," Kassie said.
Twenty-three pedestrians have received serious injuries as of Nov. 1, according to the Omaha Police Department. Last year, 25 pedestrians were seriously injured in collisions.
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Additionally, 40 people have died in traffic crashes in Omaha this year — the most traffic deaths in recent memory, said Police Lt. Danny Flynn, who's stationed in the Police Department's traffic unit.
Flynn can't point to any specific reason for the higher rate of pedestrian deaths and injuries, or the higher rate of traffic fatalities generally.
"I wish we could put a thumb on it and (say) this is what's going on. Really, we don't (know)," he said. "We have enforcement out there. We're trying every type of deterrence."
The City of Omaha has taken notice of traffic-related deaths in recent years. Last November, the Omaha City Council approved a Vision Zero plan that seeks to eliminate traffic fatalities by 2045.
The plan includes recommendations for road design and engineering; installing more traffic-calming features such as roundabouts and speed bumps; and increasing traffic and drunken-driving enforcement by police. Implementation of the plan is still in the early stages, though some activity, including installation of modular pedestrian islands, is underway.
"Vision Zero is just kind of a way to look holistically at all of these systems, how they interact together and what we can do to help lessen the impact," said Austin Rowser, deputy public works director.
For example, Rowser said, the city's Public Works Department has programmed many pedestrian signals, especially in midtown, to give pedestrians more time to walk across a street before the stoplight turns green.
Rowser also said the city looks at implementing alternatives, including roundabouts and trails, to limit the chances pedestrians get hit by vehicles. Rowser noted the city received a federal grant to put pedestrian islands at some intersections, including at 24th and Oak Streets, where one was installed in early October.
Most of the state's pedestrian deaths have happened in the Omaha metro area, where more than a quarter of the state's population resides, said Bill Kovarik, Nebraska highway safety administrator.
Lincoln can count the number of pedestrians killed in the capital city on one hand. Statistics from the Lincoln Police Department show three pedestrians have died in 2024 through September. Before this year, Lincoln alternated between one and two pedestrian deaths per year dating back to 2020.
Omaha is not alone in seeing an increase in the number of pedestrians killed. In June 2023, NPR reported that more than 7,500 pedestrians, or 20 per day, were killed by drivers in the United States in 2022. That is the highest number of pedestrians killed since 1981, NPR noted.
According to Flynn and Kovarik, high speeds, distracted driving and alcohol play roles in pedestrian deaths and other fatal traffic collisions.
Flynn said he is also dismayed by hit-and-run crashes that have occurred in Omaha. There have been eight hit-and-run crashes so far this year. That's one more than in 2023. The three prior years ranged from five to six hit-and-run incidents involving pedestrians.
To Flynn, being a driver in a hit-and-run not only goes against human decency, but also opens them up to criminal liability. Flynn said there have been incidents in which drivers struck pedestrians who were illegally crossing streets.
"A lot of times had people just stopped, they might not have been in the wrong," he said. "You think the natural reaction should be helping people."
Kassie Tighe wishes whoever hit her grandfather would have stopped to check on him. Police have arrested and charged 31-year-old Christopher Dunning of Plattsmouth with leaving the scene of a crash resulting in death. Dunning's attorney, Assistant Douglas County Public Defender Ann Petersen, declined to make Dunning available for comment for this story. Dunning entered a not-guilty plea on Oct. 28.
At least Walter Tighe didn't suffer, Kassie Tighe said.
"The people that saw him on the scene said it looked like it was quick and painless," she said. "It doesn't make me happy. But it makes me feel better knowing that he didn't suffer. Or I hope he didn't suffer."
