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.
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.
Honestly I wouldnt be surprised if half the problem was the digital infotainment (hate that word) system. When I want to mess with the air I look at it for .25 seconds and adjust it, meanwhile some people have to use what amounts to a slow clunky nockoff I pad to change the air, or radio, or navigation. Seriously those fucking systems need to be outlawed.
I’m sure that could be true. I haven’t witnessed people being inattentive while messing around with their radio/air con, but I have seen plenty of people on their phones while driving. You can spot them easily because they are still stopped when the light turns green, and then when they finally go they are phantom breaking for a few hundred meters!!!