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tographer, was struck by a truck and killed. Her friends mourned the tragedy, a shockingly common one in a county whose neighborhoods inside the Capital Beltway are growing more congested by the day.

"The police found my daughter's graduation invitation in Rose's car, and that is how they knew to notify me," said Josie Zell, a neighborhood friend of Martufi's whose brother was killed in 1995 crossing the same street where it becomes Route 355 as it runs through Gaithersburg. "Like all of us, I'm sure they thought it could never happen to them. . . . Anybody can be a statistic. It could be you, your child or best friend."

As Montgomery invests in its urban centers in a booming economy, county officials are warning residents that the renovations and resulting popularity come with a downside: more traffic and danger for pedestrians. Zell and top Montgomery officials gathered last week to announce a summer-long pedestrian safety campaign to reduce the alarmingly high annual number of pedestrian fatalities.

An average of 15 pedestrians have died annually on Montgomery streets over the past five years, and last year's 18 deaths were the most since 1995. The fatalities, which have equaled or exceeded the number of recorded homicides in Montgomery in three of the past five years, prompted Del. William A. Bronrott (D-Montgomery) to characterize crossing some Montgomery streets as "a death-defying act."

"What this campaign is all about is preventative medicine," said Bronrott, whose district includes Bethesda, where eight pedestrians have been killed since 1996.

The first pedestrian safety campaign kicked off last year and included Bethesda, Chevy Chase and Friendship Heights. This year's effort--which includes public service announcements, bilingual bookmarks available at local businesses and increased police patrols--will expand to include Silver Spring as it undergoes a roughly $350 million redevelopment effort.

County Executive Douglas M. Duncan (D) has also announced the formation of a 21-member task force to study why Montgomery consistently posts among the highest number of pedestrian deaths in the region. The majority of those deaths, police have found, are the result of pedestrian error.

The task force includes Police Chief Charles A. Moose, Health Officer Carol Garvey, State's Attorney Douglas F. Gansler, County Council member Philip Andrews (D-Rockville) and a variety of state officials, community activists and local business owners. Bronrott, a longtime activist against drunken driving, will serve as chairman.

"As we become a more urbanized area, we must do everything we can to make it safe for pedestrians," Duncan said. "These tragedies can and must be prevented."

The education effort includes bookmarks, printed in English and Spanish, that advise drivers to stop at crosswalks, observe speed limits and yield to pedestrians when turn

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