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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.
I live in Arizona. It’s a combination of factors. For one, we have a higher than usual homeless population compared to other places, mainly due to the climate. Yeah you can die from heat exposure, but it’s a lot easier to mitigate than freezing to death.
Then there’s our roads- wide streets without much traffic means people drive a lot faster, crosswalks are few and far between, shitty public transportation so anyone who has to walk has to walk a long way and/or cross unsafely, basically with very few exceptions the only people walking are people who have no other choice, so drivers don’t look for pedestrians before crossing their paths.
To top that all off (or possibly just a further result of the demographics of pedestrians) there are not a whole lot of legal repercussions when a pedestrian is killed- if they were not in a crosswalk, or crossed against the light (which is sometimes necessary because the button that gives you a walk signal is broken) it’s pretty much accepted to be the pedestrian’s fault.
Remember when the self-driving Uber killed a pedestrian here years ago? First thing the news did was say she was a cyclist, because everyone hates us. She was walking her bicycle by the way. Then they said she was jaywalking. Thing is, I know the place where she got hit- it wasn’t marked as a crosswalk, but it was in line with paved walking paths on either side of the street, which legally makes it a de-facto crosswalk, so a pedestrian would have right of way. The city soon after put up signs on those paths saying not to cross there, and then years later tore out the paved paths and replaced with vegetation. Problem solved. Of course once they said she was homeless, the story pretty much disappeared. I think only one news outlet (at the time) actually looked into the police report and found that the person sitting in the car, whose job was to be ready to take over in case the self-driving software fucked up, had been watching YouTube videos on her phone. I don’t think she was ever held responsible, I haven’t looked into it in a long time so I could be wrong - but I doubt it.
So, Arizona kills more pedestrians because Arizona law enforcement effectively authorizes the killing of pedestrians. Got it.