Report: Traffic-related pedestrian deaths are trending up—again

Continuing a decade-long trend, the number of traffic-related pedestrian deaths last year is projected to cross yet another historic mark when researchers finish analyzing the data. A report tallying data from half the year published by the Governors Highway Safety Association documents that 3,434 people were killed on American roadways during the first half of 2022.

“This number certainly is an undercount,” reads the “Spotlight on Highway Safety” report, which is published annually by the safety organization. “Oklahoma was unable to provide projections in time for this publication. Therefore, the state is excluded from all analyses in this report. In fact, if we assume that pedestrian deaths in Oklahoma followed a similar trend as previous years, the estimated total for all 50 states and the District of Columbia grows to 3,475.”

Notably, the Governors Highway Safety Report gives a look at last year’s pedestrian fatality trend months before data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) becomes available, according to a statement. That report is expected to included information from all of last year, not just the first half.

The most recent data represents a 5% uptick in the number of deaths over the same period in 2021, and an 18% surge above 2019. Pedestrian fatalities reached 7,485 in 2021, a 40-year high. Preliminary data from the first six months of 2022 suggests pedestrian deaths are on pace to break that record.

“There is a pedestrian safety crisis on our roads, and it’s only gotten worse since the start of the pandemic,” said Jonathan Adkins, chief executive officer of the Governors Highway Safety Association. “It’s absolutely mind-boggling and heartbreaking that drivers are killing an average of 19 pedestrians every single day. The only way to reverse this awful trend is to do more of everything that works—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.”

Infrastructure and built environments that separate people traveling at different speeds—such as vehicles and walkers—is a key component of the Safe System strategy to reduce pedestrian deaths that was adopted by the Department of Transportation in 2021.

The strategy was enacted in response to a disturbing decade-long trend. Between 2013 and 2022, pedestrian deaths in the first half of the year climbed 60%, from 2,141 to 3,434. Certain states are seeing more of a spike than others.

Three in particular, California, Florida and Texas, accounted for 38% of all pedestrian deaths, even though, combined, they’re home to 28% of the United States population. The report notes that all of these states have warmer climates, so there are more people who walk. They also all have densely populated urban areas where multimodal road users share the street.

“The latest news—that pedestrian deaths are on track to be higher than last year, after having reached a 40-year high in 2021—is tragic, but unsurprising,” said Corinne Kisner, executive director of the National Association of City Transportation Officials in a statement, noting, “Too many U.S. roads are designed to prioritize moving vehicles quickly instead of keeping people safe, and pedestrian infrastructure is an afterthought. Cars and trucks are getting larger, heavier and more deadly, but regulations haven’t kept up. Speed limits on streets across the country are too high.”

Kisner highlighted lower speed limits, reforming outdated regulations, retaining vehicle safety standards, and encouraging states to use federal funding to build safer streets as effective methods that can reduce pedestrian deaths.

In order of change from least to greatest, states that saw an increase in traffic-related pedestrian deaths include: Alabama, Arizona, Hawaii, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Maryland, Delaware, Georgia, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Indiana, Connecticut, Washington, Tennessee, Utah, Massachusetts, Missouri, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Oregon, Virginia, and Florida.