Dangerous driving, inadequate infrastructure and larger vehicles lead to deadly conditions for people walking, with one death every 75 minutes
Drivers in the United States struck and killed 3,434 people in the first half of 2022 — up 5%, or 168 more deaths, from the same period the year before, according to a new analysis from the Governors Highway Safety Association . This deeply troubling projection follows a 40-year high in pedestrian deaths in 2021 and continues a gruesome decade-long trend of more people dying while walking on US roads.
Why are more people walking dying on US roads? A combination of factors, including a surge in dangerous driving that began at the start of theand has not lessened; larger, heavier vehicles that are more likely to seriously injure or kill people on foot in the event of a crash; roads designed to prioritize fast-moving traffic over slower speeds that are safer for pedestrians; and inadequate infrastructure such as sidewalks, crosswalks and lighting in many parts of the country.
“There is a pedestrian safety crisis on our roads, and it’s only gotten worse since the start of the pandemic,” said GHSA Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Adkins. “A single roadway death is tragic. But it’s absolutely mind-boggling and heartbreaking that drivers are killing an average of 19 pedestrians every single day.
At the state level, pedestrian fatalities increased in 24 states during the first half of 2022. Twenty-one states experienced declines, and the number of pedestrian deaths was unchanged in four states. While 15 states reported consecutive years of more pedestrian fatalities , only two states reported two straight years of decreases. Oklahoma was unable to provide projections in time for this publication and is therefore omitted from the data analysis conducted for this report.
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