US pedestrian deaths hold rising, finds freeway security evaluation

Pedestrian deaths have surged on U.S. roads lately, and they’re climbing once more.

Pedestrian deaths hit a 40-year excessive in 2021, and numbers for the primary half of 2022 had been up about 5% over the identical interval in 2021, in response to a brand new Governors Freeway Security Affiliation (GHSA) evaluation.

It cites a wide range of contributors, together with heavier autos which might be extra prone to injure or kill folks on foot. Roads, in the meantime, are designed to prioritize fast-moving visitors over the slower speeds which might be safer for pedestrians, in response to the GHSA.

Many components of the USA lack enough sidewalks, crosswalks and lighting, the group famous.

As well as, harmful driving surged initially of the pandemic and has not abated.

“There’s a pedestrian security disaster on our roads, and it is solely gotten worse because the begin of the pandemic,” Jonathan Adkins, chief govt officer of GHSA, mentioned in an affiliation information launch. “A single roadway dying is tragic. However it’s completely mind-boggling and heartbreaking that drivers are killing a mean of 19 pedestrians each single day.”

GHSA’s annual Highlight on Freeway Security report relies on preliminary knowledge from state freeway security places of work.

GHSA mentioned the rise is much more alarming in comparison with 2019, earlier than the pandemic.

Between the primary half of 2019 and 2022, pedestrian deaths surged 18%, the GHSA discovered. The numbers confirmed 1.04 pedestrian deaths per 100,000 folks in 2022, up from 0.9 per 100,000 in 2019.

There have been 168 extra deaths throughout the first half of 2022 in comparison with the primary half of 2021, the findings confirmed.

“The one option to reverse this terrible development is to do extra of every thing that works—extra and higher designed infrastructure to maintain folks strolling protected, equitable enforcement of visitors security legal guidelines to cease harmful driving and interesting extra communities the place the impacts of this disaster are felt the toughest,” Adkins mentioned.

The GHSA mentioned it helps an answer based mostly on the Protected System strategy outlined within the U.S. Division of Transportation’s Nationwide Roadway Security Technique.

Its components—protected street customers, protected autos, protected speeds, protected roads and post-crash care—present a multilayered security web to guard folks on foot in addition to different street customers, GHSA mentioned.

The reported will increase proceed a decade-long development.

Within the first half of 2013, the USA recorded 2,141 pedestrian deaths—in comparison with 3,434 within the first half of final yr. That is a 60% improve and almost 1,300 extra folks killed.

The U.S. Nationwide Freeway Visitors Security Administration (NHTSA) reported that 2021 additionally noticed essentially the most roadway deaths since 2005, about 43,000.

Pedestrian deaths elevated in 24 states throughout the first half of final yr. One other 21 states noticed declines. 4 states had unchanged numbers. Oklahoma didn’t present knowledge.

California, Florida and Texas—that are dwelling to twenty-eight% of the U.S. inhabitants—accounted for 38% of pedestrian deaths within the first six months of 2022. GHSA famous the states have hotter climates, which might improve foot journey, and lots of city areas the place autos and pedestrians usually tend to share the street.

GHSA plans to publish a second report this spring with state fatality projections for all of 2022, an evaluation of 2021 knowledge from the NHTSA and an summary of confirmed methods to scale back pedestrian crashes and accidents.

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