Looking out over a crowd of passionate neighbors and families who have lost loved ones, Kent Mayor Dana Ralph said: “Traffic safety is a team sport.”

On March 27, the Target Zero King County Traffic Safety Coalition met with the public to present changes that have been made and goals that still need to be reached in regards to the 11-mile corridor that runs north and south through Renton, Kent, Auburn and unincorporated King County, specifically Fairwood.

Running along 140th Avenue Southeast and 132nd Avenue Southeast, from State Route 169 through Kent-Kangley Road and ending at the State Route 18 interchange, the corridor has been shown to have a high number of collisions. Many of those collisions are fatal, like the one that killed Andrea Hudson, 38, Matilda Wilcoxson, 13, Eloise Wilcoxson, 12, and Buster Brown, 12, in 2024; and the one that killed 12-year-old Gabriel Coury in 2023.

The community meeting was held at Sunrise Elementary School, which is located off of 132nd Avenue in Kent, where Gabriel went to school. A crowd of roughly 50 people gathered, including local city and county leaders, members of local law enforcement and fire agencies, concerned residents, the press and families affected by fatal collisions in the area.

The meeting included words from Jaron and Jessica Brown, who are the parents of Buster Brown. Jessica Brown said that she was initially apprehensive to speak.

“We’re still reeling in shock from this accident. I knew everyone would understand if we [did not speak], but as time went on and I saw the daffodils pop up at the crash site and the measures the community was taking on our behalf to reach out to us, I felt like giving back a little,” she said. “I appreciate what you’re doing here, and your efforts to make our community safer.”

The Browns told the story of how Buster, Andrea Hudson, Matilda and Eloise died on March 19, 2024, when then-18-year-old Chase Jones of Kent drove 112 mph through a stoplight at the intersection of 140th Avenue Southeast and Southeast 192nd Street in Fairwood. The car T-boned the minivan that Andrea was driving, instantly killing her and the three minors. Her children, Nolan Hudson, 15, and Charlotte Hudson, 13, were also passengers and were seriously injured by the crash. On April 3, Jones pleaded guilty to all felony charges and will be sentenced on April 25.

Brown talked about how she had dropped off Buster, Nolan and Charlotte for a program that Tuesday morning. Hours later when she was heading toward 140th Avenue in her car, she saw a car speeding down the street and heading south. It was Jones’ car.

“I thought to myself, ‘He’s going to kill somebody.’ It wasn’t too long later when I finished my quick errand at Safeway in Fairwood that I heard the sirens. I drove to the intersection to see what had happened,” said Brown, talking to the crowd. “It wasn’t taped off yet, so I was able to get a full view of that horrific scene. A sick feeling sat in my stomach as my eyes took in the wreckage. The car that had been hit didn’t look like a car anymore. I couldn’t tell what was the front and what was the back. I prayed for whoever was in that car and I headed home. The sick feeling followed me.”

The Browns then talked about their son and their friends — and the aftermath of the crash. During a press conference last year at the memorial site, Chase Wilcoxson, the father of Matilda and Eloise, called on government officials and community leaders to do research and “make changes so that nothing like this ever happens again,” which helped lead to the March 27 community meeting.

Looking at the data

Washington Traffic Safety Commission (WTSC) director Shelly Baldwin highlighted data that showed all Washington state traffic fatalities since 1968. Baldwin said fatalities have been decreasing since the 1980s, when there was a shift to lessen drunk driving.

“People like you rose up and said, ‘We’re not going to take this anymore,’ and a lot of changes were made,” Baldwin said. “It used to be funny or a joke to talk about drunk driving. Nobody talks about drunk driving that way anymore.”

From the Washington Traffic Safety Commission and Michelin Mobility Intelligence community report, the data shows that Kent and Renton have been identified as “highly disadvantaged” areas with high crash rates.

Between 2016 and 2020, Kent and Renton both saw 14 fatal crashes, which included pedestrian deaths.

The study looked at several different South King County areas, but the March 27 meeting primarily focusing on the 11-mile corridor along 132nd and 140th. In this area, they looked at three spots where there is elevated pedestrian risk, elevated cyclist risk and elevated risk for both.

At the intersection of Southeast Kent-Kangley Road and 132nd Avenue Southeast, which is near Safeway, Trader Joe’s and Starbucks, the study found that this intersection had the highest Michelin risk model rating possible for vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians and cyclists.

In the presentation, 2023 data showed that there were 168 fatalities in King County, which included 54 pedestrians, six bicyclists or other cyclists, and a 100% increase in fatalities from 2014 — 54% of which were impaired driver-involved. There has also been a 58% increase of serious injuries in the last decade, with a total of 924.

The presentation also highlighted the county’s “societal cost” of $6.7 billion per year due to traffic collisions. These variables include cost of medical care, emergency services, market productivity, household productivity, legal costs, insurance administrative costs, workplace costs, property damage and congestion.

The WTSC and Michelin data found between Oct. 2023 and March 2024 revealed that major traffic safety issues include speeding, hard breaking and crash occurrence and severity. The data shows that crashes are most common in the Fairwood area, north of Kensington Heights, and at the aforementioned Kent-Kangley (referred to as SR-516) intersection.

What is being done

Baldwin said the traffic safety commission, after looking at recent data, is focusing on three triangular areas for road safety that all work with each other: Safe System Approach (SSA), proactive traffic safety culture and equity.

The SSA is the acknowledgement that “safety increases when we examine how all parts of the system interact to support and strengthen all parts of the system.” This approach is made up of several key parts: safer land use, safer road users, post-crash care, safer roads, safer speeds and safer vehicles. These are parts of the data that can be solved through municipal and county changes and through utilizing law enforcement.

SSA moves into culture, where the traffic safety commission acknowledges that responsibility is shared and that safety is proactive. SSA and culture both move into equity, where “death and serious injuries are unacceptable (for everyone)” and “different groups have different cultures (every community has strengths).”

For the 11-mile corridor project, Target Zero (named for the goal of reaching zero collision deaths) is focusing on high visibility enforcement, educating the public through school programming and yard signage, marketing and utilizing the media to get the message out, and hosting more community meetings.

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At the March 27 presentation, Kent Police Chief Rafael Padilla highlighted traffic statistics in Kent, where 2024 saw 35 major callout investigations, 1,591 collision reports written and 2,733 infractions and citations written. He also talked about the Kent Police Department receiving a three-year grant for a dedicated DUI officer who will work five or more days a week on DUI enforcement while also doing education and outreach on DUIs.

City and county staff also showcased steps the city of Kent and King County have taken to improve safety for pedestrians, with new sidewalks, walking paths and park access. Safety improvements in Fairwood have included reducing speeds from 40 mph to 35 mph in certain areas, installing plastic pylons in center turn lanes (described as focus on traffic calming), adding more speed radar signs, and modifying the timing of traffic lights at certain intersections.

Potential solutions

Referring to the King County traffic safety report on 140th Avenue Southeast and Southeast Petrovitsky Road, Tricia Davis, director of the county’s Roads Services Division, also talked about potential solutions, like changes to the road, traffic cameras and an increase in sheriff patrols.

Other solutions include increasing analysis of crash data, road conditions, traffic patterns, weather, flood risks and equity considerations as the studies have shown that Kent, Fairwood and Renton may be high-risk traffic areas due to the high populations of low-income, immigrant and refugee communities.

According to the WTSC and Michelin report, South King County is considered “historically underinvested” and has not “benefited from previous public investments at the same levels as other areas of the state.”

“Economic disparities often mean lower-income areas have less access to well-maintained roads, pedestrian crossings, and proper lighting, leading to higher crash rates. Additionally, public transit options may be limited, leading residents to rely more on walking and biking,” said the report. “Without frameworks supporting safe walking and biking, exposure to traffic dangers is higher. By identifying these gaps, agencies can direct resources toward safety improvements in high-risk communities.”

Another possible solution is the inclusion of up to six roundabouts throughout the 11-mile corridor, though this solution would take several years and a high cost, with each roundabout costing between $4 million and $6 million.

Gabriel Coury

The night concluded with Michael and Shellie Coury talking about their son Gabriel.

On July 11, 2023, Gabriel was riding a scooter along 132nd Avenue near Southeast 230th Street. He was returning home from a nearby park when then-19-year-old Carson Alexander Quinlin of Maple Valley hit Gabriel at a speed as high as 60 mph in the 35 mph zone. Quinlin was driving drunk. In 2024, he pleaded guilty to hitting Gabriel with his truck and was sentenced to six and a half years in prison.

“Gabriel possessed a gentle spirit, a loving nature, and a deep devotion to his family. An exceptionally generous heart,” said Shellie Coury. She told a story of how Gabriel had played soccer with a first-grade boy named Isaiah at recess when he was in sixth grade and how their family was told that Isaiah was so grateful for Gabriel’s kindness and willingness to play with a much younger kid.

“From the beginning, Michael and I have felt compelled to share Gabriel’s story, hoping it would inspire drivers to make safer choices, particularly when impaired,” said Coury. “We want to help educate our community and its children about the dangers of reckless driving.”

When asked later of how she thought the meeting went, Coury said: “It was a good turnout tonight, but how about if we double it?”

Another community meeting is slated for summer 2025. Before the meeting officially ended, everyone was encouraged to take home a lawn sign to remind passing drivers of traffic safety: “Slower is safer.”