Gov. Baldacci fell on ice Wednesday during a routine mission to collect his morning newspapers. In doing so, he became a slip-and-fall statistic, joining an uncomfortable group of folks who suffer from injuries that might have been prevented.

Terri Brady could soon be joining him in that group.

Brady is a young woman who lives in Auburn and goes to college in Lewiston. She walks to her classes and has to traverse Center Street, the Longley Bridge and Lisbon Street to get there. In recent weeks it’s been an icy and treacherous journey for her.

As she explains it, the sidewalks on Center Street are not regularly cleared. She has called on Auburn City Hall for help but there is no municipal rule requiring owners to clear walkways in front of their businesses. So, Brady walks in parking lots along Center Street as much as possible, and then runs in the street from driveway to driveway.

Anyone who travels Center Street can understand the danger Brady is in just getting to school. When she walks to do her grocery shopping and carries her one-year-old son in a backpack along this same route, the danger more than doubles because Brady is not as fleet of foot carrying a 20-pound child as she runs along the pavement.

According to the Maine Bureau of Health, accidental and intentional injuries account for millions of dollars in health-care costs each year.

Deaths, permanent injuries and the cost of health care are discrete numbers we can count. What we can’t count as clearly are the pain and sadness from injuries, reliance on others for day-to-day assistance, lost time from work and the natural fear of another fall.

When people spend time and energy and really pay attention to reducing injuries, injuries are then reduced. We see it in workplaces and in reduced workers compensation costs. The same kind of attention can be used in other public places and at home.

Could the governor’s fall have been prevented? Probably. But slipping on ice is a fact of life during any Maine winter and people are going to fall. The governor was back to work by Friday and, although his pain is harsh and real, he is fortunate that his lost time from work was minimal and he will recover completely.

And, in all likelihood, the steps at the Blaine House will get special attention in the future.

The likelihood of Brady falling on Center Street as she hurries to class is real and it’s less likely that the sidewalks will ever get any special attention because the city’s resources are spent in clearing roads and ensuring smooth traffic flow.

While understandable, given the cost of snow and ice removal, placing secondary importance on clearing sidewalks actually adds to the public cost of health care.

The Maine Bureau of Health has studied the physical activity levels of Mainers for years and places partial blame for rising rates of obesity – and associated costs – on our inability to navigate public ways on foot during the winter. People stop walking in colder months because it’s just too difficult to plug along through the snow and they’re afraid of falling.

Clearing sidewalks is costly and time-consuming work, but the cost of not doing it is much greater. Snow removal for pedestrians is a matter of public health and safety in keeping us on our feet and walking the calories away.