Drivers Stuck And Killed More Than 7,500 Walkers In 2022, A 41-Year High

Pedestrian deaths have surged 77% since 2010, compared to a 25% increase for all other traffic-related fatalities. Dangerous driving, inadequate infrastructure, and larger and heavier vehicles have contributed to the continuing pedestrian safety crisis on our roads.

Last year there was a record death toll of at least 7,508 people on foot, the most pedestrian fatalities in a single year since 1981 and a 41-year high.

Those are the highlights of projected deaths included in a new report released on Thursday by the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), a nonprofit organization representing state highway safety offices.

“Every day, 20 people go for a walk and do not return home,” Jonathan Adkins, chief executive officer of the safety group, said in a statement. “These are people living their daily lives – commuting to and from school and work, picking up groceries, walking the dog, getting some exercise – who died suddenly and violently.”

The report, “Pedestrian Traffic Fatalities by State,” based on 2022 preliminary data, details how the number of deaths has continued to rise over the past decade, and how an uptick in dangerous driving behaviors that started in 2020 during the pandemic hasn’t abated.

The report also provides insights on pedestrian safety trends from 2010-2021. Some highlights include:

• Most pedestrian fatalities continue to occur at night, although nighttime deaths have accounted for an even larger share over the past few years.
• SUVs and other light trucks can cause more harm to a person on foot when a crash occurs because of their greater body weight and larger profile. Drivers of passenger cars have consistently accounted for the greatest number of fatal pedestrian crashes, but over the past decade the number involving SUVs increased at a far faster rate (120%) than deaths in crashes involving passenger cars (26%).
• In 2021, 69% of pedestrian fatalities occurred in locations where no sidewalk was noted on the crash report, up from 59% in 2017 and continuing a steady upward trajectory.
• The average risk of death for pedestrians increases exponentially the faster a vehicle is traveling, from 10% at 23 mph to 90% at 58 mph, researchers said. The percentage of pedestrian deaths involving a speeding driver was 8.1% in 2021, a slight decrease from the year before but higher than before the pandemic.
• In 2021, 60% of all fatalities were on non-freeway arterial roads, the most dangerous roadway type for people on foot; they typically carry large volumes of traffic at high speeds and eventually lead to a freeway. About 18% of pedestrian deaths were on freeways; some examples include stranded motorists exiting their vehicles, first responders and tow truck drivers. Move Over laws that require drivers to slow down and change lanes when approaching a stopped vehicle need to be strengthened, better publicized and more heavily enforced, the report noted.

The safety group said focusing traffic enforcement on dangerous driving behaviors, like speeding and driving impaired or distracted, educating novice drivers about their responsibility to look out for and yield to pedestrians and other road users, and embracing the Safe System approach to road safety are among the measures that have the potential to reverse the “troubling” trend.

The Safe System (or Vision Zero) approach to road safety and design, that takes human error into account, was first put into effect in Sweden in the 1990s. The goal of the initiative is to eliminate all road deaths and serious injuries by creating multiple layers of protection, so if one fails, the others will create a safety net to lessen the impact of a crash. Improvements are designed to result in: safer people, safer roads, safer vehicles, safer speeds and better post-crash care.

“The saddest part is that these crashes are preventable,” Adkins added. “We know what works – better-designed infrastructure, lower speeds, addressing risky driving behaviors that pose a danger to people walking. We must do these things and more to reverse this awful trend and protect people on foot. Enough is enough.”

To read the full report, which includes a chart comparing 2019-2022 pedestrian fatalities by state, click here. For more general road safety information, click here.