38 people died in Lexington crashes in 2024. Can the city get that to zero?

Over the past five years, 198 people in Lexington have been killed in car crashes in Fayette County.

The number of people with serious, life-threatening injuries topped 530 from 2020 to 2024, according to Lexington Police Department and Kentucky State Police data.

A Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council special task force — STREEET, or Shared Travel Requires Engineering Education and Enforcement of Traffic — released initial recommendations to make Lexington’s streets safer for motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists on Tuesday during a council work session.

Some of those initial recommendations include:

• A roundabout feasibility study to determine where the city could construct five roundabouts, which have been shown to reduce head-on, dangerous collisions.
• A quick build study of smaller traffic circles, which are smaller than roudabouts and are typically in neighborhoods or on collector streets.
• More quick build studies of smaller safety improvements, such as pedestrian islands or other traffic-calming devices.
• Changes and upgrades to signalized pedestrian crossways, which could include allowing pedestrian-only lights or additional time to cross roads.
• Additional focused traffic enforcement in areas with more crashes.
• Joining other cities to lobby the Kentucky General Assembly to allow for traffic enforcement or red light cameras.
• A city ordinance prohibiting drag racing. There is a state-wide ban on drag racing, and a city ordinance would have civil penalties, including impoundment of vehicles.
• A city ordinance prohibiting parking in bike lanes, which forces cyclists to ride on the street.
• More education and unified messaging around traffic safety and enforcement.

The STREEET task force, which consists of council members, city staff from multiple departments, University of Kentucky and running club members, began meeting in January.

The group hopes to have a full report completed in December with action steps, said Councilwoman Liz Sheehan, who co-chaired the new task force.

Some of the proposed recommendations, including the feasibility study for more roundabouts and more quick build projects, will cost money, Sheehan said.

Sheehan said cost estimates will be released later when the council discusses surplus in coming weeks. There will also be a request for funding in the next budget, which begins July 1 of next year, she said.

The task force was developed after a series of pedestrian-related deaths on Lexington streets. One of those deaths was Mia Alayna Ibrahim, 33, who was hit by a vehicle at the intersection of Nicholasville Road and Rosemont Garden. The vehicle ran a red light while Ibrahim was in a crosswalk in December 2023.

It also comes as more cities and local governments are focusing on decreasing traffic-related deaths. Vision Zero, where communities pledge to decrease crash-related accidents with the goal of bringing those deaths to zero, has become more prominent in many larger cities, including in Louisville.

At the same time, the city is also overhauling its design guidelines to include complete streets, which emphasizes constructing roadways for pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists.

More people die in Fayette County crashes than are shot

More people died as a result of automobile or pedestrian crashes in Fayette County in 2024 than those who were murdered, statistics show. Thirty-eight people died on Fayette County roads in 2024, state and city data shows.

That’s compared to 22 people killed by homicide.

Yet, people often pay more attention to homicides than road-related deaths.

“These are people,” said Councilmember Emma Curtis, said of the city’s number of roadway deaths. Curtis was friends Ibrahim. “Mia should still be here.”

Many council members said they looked forward to seeing the proposals to make changes to Lexington streets moving forward.

Councilman James Brown said he has received multiple complaints about drag racing “in downtown and the neighborhoods.”

“I think street safety is important to a lot of people,” Brown said.

Councilman David Sevigny, who co-chaired the task force, said he spoke with Ibrahim’s parents and friends after the accident, which occurred in his council district. He also spoke to other neighbors who have complained about that busy intersection on Nicholasville Road. One man made Sevigny walk the intersection with him.

“He told me:’You are responsible for my kids’ safety on this street,’” Sevigny said. “It became very real to me.”

Sevigny said the task force emphasized concrete, actionable steps the city could implement quickly to keep Lexington roads safer.

“I think there is a lot we can do,” Sevigny said.

This story was originally published October 8, 2025 at 9:32 AM.