The intolerable toll of pedestrian and bicyclist deaths (The Republican Editorials)

The following editorial is from the opinion page of The Republican newspaper in Springfield. It reflects views of the newspaper’s leadership and not necessarily those of MassLive. Readers are invited to share their opinions by emailing to letters@repub.com .

The shoes should be filled. We’re speaking of the empty yellow shoes that helped dramatize the loss of 35 people on Hampden County streets this past year.

WalkBike Springfield placed 35 pairs of shoes on Springfield’s Central Library stairs last month, inviting us to remember those who died — and all but pleading for people to drive knowing that inattention at the wheel and speeding can kill.

In the last 10 years, two people died trying to cross State Street near those library stairs and one person died trying to cross State S