GHSA previously issued a report finding that 3,434 pedestrians were killed on U.S. roadways in the first half of 2022, based on preliminary data reported by State Highway Safety Offices. A second report analyzing state-reported data for all of 2022 found that roadways continue to be incredibly deadly for pedestrians. There were 2.37 pedestrian deaths per billion vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in 2022, up yet again and continuing a troubling trend of elevated rates that began in 2020.
The report also includes an analysis of 2021 data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System to provide additional context on when, where and how drivers strike and kill people on foot. This analysis uncovered a shocking safety disparity for people walking: Pedestrian deaths rose a troubling 77% between 2010 and 2021, compared to a 25% rise in all other traffic fatalities. The data analysis was conducted by Elizabeth Petraglia, Ph.D., of research firm Westat.
To combat this pedestrian safety crisis, GHSA supports a comprehensive solution based on the Safe System approach outlined in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Roadway Safety Strategy (NRSS). Each of the five elements of this approach – safe road users, safe vehicles, safe speeds, safe roads and post-crash care – contribute in different but overlapping ways to provide a multi-layered safety net that can protect people on foot as well as other road users. The report includes examples of how states are utilizing Safe System principles to improve pedestrian safety.
SUVs, SUVs, SUVs and a dash of ridiculous sized pick ups.
Stop the madness!
Not just that but people just do not fucking care anymore. I have to walk into lots of large stores for my job and it’s almost every lot some asshole has to speed through so they don’t have to wait for somebody walking into the store. Even had some asshole run their car up right next to me then stop just before hitting me and when I stopped he was just smiling at me. Fuckers like that belong in jail threatening people with a vehicle.
Also, absolutely awful public spaces that make it dangerous to be a pedestrian. I’ve been living in Barcelona for the past few months and it’s fucking amazing over here by comparison to Canada & the US.
This timeframe also coincides with smartphones becoming ubiquitous. I’d be shocked if that isn’t also a factor.
What timeframe? From 2019 to current? That feels really late for “smartphones becoming ubiquitous”.
That’s a zero, not a nine.
Absolutely
There’s nothing more dangerous than someone in a vehicle too big for the road AND driving distracted. They might as well be firing off a machine gun into a crowd of people.
Some states don’t even have laws to dissuade their use.
Do you think it’s more cuz of drivers on their phones, pedestrians on their phone or equal parts both?
Drivers on their phones are more responsible for avoiding pedestrians than pedestrians are for trying to avoid vehicles since vehicles are large and deadly and supposedly require a license to drive. In addition to that, a pedestrian on a phone will be moving relatively slow compared to a distracted driver, and it is far easier to avoid hitting a pedestrian than it is to avoid getting run over by a car moving at an unsafe speed.
Drivers are always at fault unless a pedestrian leaps in front of them intentionally or the sidewalk is close enough to traffic that tripping and falling would end up in the path of a vehicle. The latter would be the fault of the street design if an attentive driver hit a pedestrian.
Drivers, even extremely alert pedestrians can’t dodge two tonns of steel moving at 110.
Most collisions with pedestrians usually happen in cities where there are no cars driving at 110kph. For 99% of cases this can be avoided by paying attention to your surroundings. This applies to both drivers and pedestrians. I “save” the life of several people a year by not driving over them when they just blindly step on the road apparently assuming what ever moves there is going to always see them and stop. For the vast majority of time this is the case but then there’s an exception an now you’re dead.
In general people crossing the road can be divided into three groups. Group A looks both ways before crossing so that they don’t get hit by a car. Group B looks after they’ve already stepped on the road to see what kind of car they’re getting hit by and group C doesn’t even care and just stares forward.
Exactly. The responsibility lies with the person in control of the vehicle, if for no other reason than they are surrounded by a metal cage and will suffer little in a crash with a pedestrian.
Drivers.
I think pedestrians on their phones doesn’t help, but a far larger portion would be distracted drivers. As others have stated, it’s far easier to avoid hitting a pedestrian then it is to avoid being hit by a driver.