Pedestrian Deaths On The Rise Again, A Walker Dies Every 75 Minutes On America’s Roads

Roads in this country create “deadly conditions” for people on foot. Drivers struck and killed nearly 3,500 people in the United States in the first six months of 2022 – up 5% from the same period the year before. In just three years, pedestrian fatalities have surged 18% – nine times faster than U.S. population growth.

The “deeply troubling projection” follows a 40-year high in pedestrian deaths in 2021, and “continues a gruesome decade-long trend of more people dying while walking on U.S. roads.”

Those are the main findings of a new report of estimated deaths released on Tuesday by the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), a nonprofit organization representing state highway safety offices.

Dangerous driving, inadequate infrastructure and larger vehicles are a few of the reasons why one walker dies every 75 minutes.

“There is a pedestrian safety crisis on our roads, and it’s only gotten worse since the start of the pandemic,” Jonathan Adkins, chief executive officer of the GHSA, said in a statement. “A single roadway death is tragic. But it’s absolutely mind-boggling and heartbreaking that drivers are killing an average of 19 pedestrians every single day.”

This year’s Spotlight on Highway Safety report, “Pedestrian Traffic Fatalities by State: 2022 Preliminary Data,” published annually by the safety group, found that overall, deaths of walkers increased in 24 states during the first half of 2022, declined in 21 states and were unchanged in four states.

Three states – California, Florida and Texas – accounted for 38% of all pedestrian deaths in the first six months of 2022, but are home to 28% of the U.S. population, researchers said, probably due to warmer climates, where people tend to walk frequently, and a high number of urban areas, where pedestrians and vehicle are more likely to share the road.

The spike in deaths is due to a combination of factors, according to the data analysis, including a surge in dangerous driving that started when the pandemic began; larger, heavier vehicles that are more likely to seriously injure or kill people on foot when a crash occurs; roads designed to prioritize fast-moving traffic rather than slower speeds that are safer for pedestrians; and poorly designed and built infrastructure, including sidewalks, crosswalks and lighting.

The safety group said it supports a comprehensive, holistic solution outlined in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Roadway Safety Strategy, an initiative that embraces the Vision Zero or Safe System approach to road safety and design that takes human error into account, first put into effect in Sweden in the 1990s.

The goal 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 only way to reverse this awful trend is to do more of everything that works,” Adkins added, “more and better designed infrastructure to keep people walking safe, equitable enforcement of traffic safety laws to stop dangerous driving and engaging more communities where the impacts of this crisis are felt the hardest.”

Future reports from the safety group will include an overview of strategies known to be effective that states and communities are employing to help \reduce pedestrian crashes and injuries.

To access the full report, which includes state specific data, click here.