One of my theories of where road designs have gone wrong is the use of expressway like features (where bike/peds are prohibited) on roads where bikes and peds are allowed and the result is a mixed message of who has the right-of-way as well as encouraging "creative" use by the classes of users not really accommodated in the design.
Here we have the designers of the roadway saying "If I was a pedestrian, I would walk a mile just to cross the road." Of course the reality of this is very few people would be willing to do this but there is a tendency to think as long as we require this people will do it, totally ignoring the human factor. Additionally the problem is compounded by putting local road designs on an expressway. This intersection from a pedestrian point of view is not much different then crossing any other major arterial: Street continues on the other side of the crossing street, check; pedestrian refuge triangle to the left of a hot right turn lane, check; pedestrian refuge area on the median, check. We have a major failure in distinguishing expressways from local streets, they are looking more and more identical and that plain and simple is not complete streets.
My point of this post is to go beyond just pedestrian error and look how we are designing public space.
What few details we have on this tragedy: https://www.wbaltv.com/news/26259606/detail.htmloldId.20101224135612549
Biking in Baltimore