Witness calls for more lights and warning signs after 4 pedestrians die on Atlanta interstates in 6 days

Four pedestrians have been killed on Atlanta interstates within the past week.

The most recent crash happened Thursday morning. Atlanta police said a man was struck and killed on the Downtown Connector near Williams Street, snarling the morning commute for hours.

On Saturday, a woman was struck near I-85 and Ga. 400 after running into traffic during a fight, police said.

Two more people were killed Sunday in separate crashes along the Downtown Connector — one near University Avenue and the other near Cleveland Avenue.

Atlanta resident Chyna Brathwaite witnessed the dangers pedestrians face on interstates when her conversation with a stranded driver near Cleveland Avenue turned deadly shortly after 3 a.m. Sunday.

Brathwaite said she knew something was wrong when she saw a woman standing beside a disabled SUV along I-75.

"We noticed that the young lady was standing right by the car on the passenger side," Brathwaite said. "That's when I started telling her, 'This is unsafe. You shouldn't be standing right here.'"

Brathwaite told CBS News Atlanta that she urged the 23-year-old woman to move away from traffic.

"She felt like where she was was more safe there than her being on the outside where the guardrail was," Brathwaite said.

Moments later, the woman was struck by a vehicle, according to Atlanta police.

"Right when we walked away, boom, the crash happened," Brathwaite said. "It just went from talking to her to seeing her lifeless."

Pedestrians are prohibited from interstates and other limited-access highways, according to the Georgia Department of Transportation.

Brathwaite said installing more lights and warning signs would be a good place to start.

"Put more lights on the interstate so people could see more, because if her headlights weren't on, nobody probably would have seen her at all," she said.

She wants the warnings to be impossible to miss.

"I would definitely suggest signs on the highways because a lot of people don't have common sense, you know?" Brathwaite said. "Common sense is not so common."

CBS News Atlanta contacted GDOT and Atlanta police to ask what could be done to help prevent pedestrian deaths on interstates and whether additional lighting or warning signs are being considered.

Neither agency had responded at the time of publication.