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This story was corrected on Nov. 5, 2009. An explanation of the correction is at the end of the story.

Statistics released by Montgomery County last week say that crashes involving senior pedestrians are happening more frequently in parking lots.

County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) launched a public education campaign outside the massive Leisure World senior-living community Thursday morning to raise awareness about safety in parking lots, especially for older residents.

"We've had a concentrated effort in the last year or two to try to improve pedestrian safety overall in Montgomery County," he said. "One of the areas that we have not concentrated on as much as we should has been incidents in parking lots."

The data released Thursday shows 1,496 pedestrian crashes in the county over the last three and a half years, and of those, about 22 percent, or 324 incidents, occurred in parking lots, Leggett said. The information was compiled over a six-month period.

County statistics staff had been looking at rates involving pedestrians being struck by vehicles to determine where in the county the most incidents had occurred when they found that many of the incidents happened in shopping center parking lots, not in roadways, said Esther Bowring, a county spokeswoman.

A particularly high rate of the incidents happened along Rockville Pike, she said.

County drivers 65 years old and older and pedestrians ages 18 to 29 and over 74 years old were disproportionately involved in those parking lot crashes, according to county data.

Leggett said pedestrians and drivers are equally at fault.

"Cars are oftentimes backing out [and] people have bags of groceries, packages in their hands, telephones, music devices and a large, large number of other distractions that precludes them from being as mindful," he said. "Drivers, on the other hand, [are] also less mindful of what is happening because they do not have, I believe, the same level of vigilance as they would normally have out on the street."

Leggett said the county is responding by building on its existing pedestrian safety campaign that educates county drivers to be more aware of pedestrians and vice versa through instructional videos, advertisements and more.

The new initiative, "Parking Lots are Danger Zones: Walk Safe! Drive Safe!," is being touted through posters and tip sheets available at county libraries and senior, recreation and community centers, as well as through retailers and property managers. About 40 Ride On buses and movie theaters in the county will feature advertisements encouraging both drivers and pedestrians to take personal responsibility for ensuring the safety of others.

The county is also urging residents to get involved by spreading the word. An online toolkit at www.montgomerycountymd.gov/walk is designed to facilitate conversations amongst residents about staying safe in parking lots.

The funding for the new initiative is coming from a portion of the $5 million generated by the county's speed camera program that is already used for pedestrian safety initiatives, Leggett said.

The campaign is slated to cost $8,000, said Patrick K. Lacefield, a county spokesman.

"This is a serious problem in Montgomery County and we are going to get to the bottom of it — we are going to improve those numbers," Leggett said. "We cannot have pedestrian safety simply by looking at what is happening on the streets without fully addressing what is happening in the parking lots."

When county staff conducted a survey of property managers to find out if they were concerned about parking lot pedestrian safety, about 50 percent of the 19 who responded said they had already taken action by including information in newsletters, distributing brochures and putting in more traffic control signs, the county reported in a press release issued last week.

The owner of Leisure World Plaza, Rossmoor IDI Commercial Center Associates LP, has installed pedestrian awareness signs, painted crosswalks, small sidewalk posts and strategically located stop signs to help with pedestrian and driver safety, Norman Dreyfuss, executive vice president of The IDI Group companies, reported in a press release.

Leisure World resident Richard Haney, a member of the community's security and transportation committee and the county-appointed Senior Safety Committee, said he thinks it is important to educate residents about parking lot safety, especially those who live in Leisure World.

"I think we have to educate the pedestrians because very often the driver, when he starts to back up, he can't see somebody walking by with a cart," he said. "So we've got to get to the pedestrians and let them know what the dangers are."

The county is urging pedestrians and drivers to be safer in parking lots.

Tips for pedestrians

-Always stay alert for vehicles.

-Don't assume drivers can see you.

-Watch for vehicles pulling out of parking spaces.

-Don't walk behind a vehicle that is backing out.

-Be cautious and look around before walking out between parked vehicles.

-Treat the parking lot as you would a road — be aware and constantly look out for moving vehicles.

Tips for drivers

-Slow down when driving through a parking lot.

-Always stay alert for pedestrians.

-Don't assume pedestrians can see you.

-Be especially cautious when backing out of a parking space.

-Never cut across parking space lanes.

-Treat the parking lot as you would a road — be aware and constantly look out for pedestrians.

Source: www.montgomerycountymd.gov/walk

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly identified the owner of Leisure World Plaza; it is Rossmoor IDI Commercial Center Associates LP. It also incorrectly identified Norman Dreyfuss, who is executive vice president of The IDI Group companies.