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!
This timeframe also coincides with smartphones becoming ubiquitous. I’d be shocked if that isn’t also a factor.
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.
Really?
Yep, some are also only while the vehicle is in motion. So feel free to watch a video at a stopsign or set of lights.
Absolutely
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.
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.
Drivers.
What timeframe? From 2019 to current? That feels really late for “smartphones becoming ubiquitous”.
That’s a zero, not a nine.
Multiple ranges are shown, which is why I was asking for clarification. I thought we might be looking at the recent upward trend since 2019 as shown in the graphs.