Warrenton woman shines light on traffic safety

WARRENTON — Bev Jackson-Shumaker hopes to light up the streets at night to prevent injuries and fatalities to pedestrians and bicyclists.

“Reflectors in the Night Saves Lives” emerged from talks Jackson-Shumaker had with Oregon State Police Lt. Andy Hasenkamp, who shared concerns about people who wear dark clothes while out walking or bicycling.

Bev Jackson-Shumaker

Bev Jackson-Shumaker is behind “Reflectors in the Night Saves Lives.”

“It had been on my mind for a long time, because I live in Warrenton and I see all these people, these kids, walking up and down Main (Avenue) in black, with black backpacks,” she said.

Jackson-Shumaker designed packets with reflective items like straps and a vest people can use to make themselves more visible at night. She delivered the packets, which are largely sourced from donations, to police departments in Clatsop County.

“We’re going to have a box at the police department in Warrenton if people want to donate any reflectors, dog collars, bicycle lights,” she said. “ ... We have a cash donation box at the Safekeeping mini storage that we’re in the process of getting installed and they let people drop off money there.

“We just need a sponsor so that we can give a tax write-off to people for bigger donations.”

Over the past few years, several pedestrians and bicyclists have been critically injured or killed on the North Coast after being struck by vehicles at night.

Warrenton Police Chief Mathew Workman said he’s also been told of a lot of near misses. He believes it’s a combination of increased vehicle traffic, along with a spike in homeless pedestrians and electric bike usage.

“Most of our roads here in Warrenton are highways, so ODOT usually does a pretty good job of keeping the bike lanes,” Workman said of the Oregon Department of Transportation. “But there’s just a lot of interaction between them (pedestrians and vehicles). And then, of course, being able to see at night is difficult enough, and with our rain and fog, it’s very dangerous.”

Jackson-Shumaker said her goal is to raise awareness and make reflectors more accessible. At the moment, she’s figuring out how to make and distribute skateboard reflectors.

“If you love yourself, put a reflector on,” she said.