Today, after the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) NTSB released recommendations from a new report aimed at reducing speeding-related injuries and fatalities, The National Complete Streets Coalition made the following statement:

“The National Complete Streets Coalition thanks NTSB for taking aim at the critical issue of speeding-related crashes that injure and kill far too many Americans each year — including many on foot or bike. We hope this report will continue to bring attention to the important yet often overlooked role of speeding in traffic injuries and fatalities for everyone who uses our streets.

Over the last decade, speed has consistently been associated with about 30 percent of traffic fatalities annually, and addressing that will help reduce auto-related injuries and fatalities. Speed is also the most important variable in how likely someone is to survive a crash. For people on foot, the likelihood of surviving a crash decreases rapidly after 30 mph; older adults are 47% likely to experience fatalities at this speed. Between 2005 and 2014, Americans were more likely to die while walking than from a natural disaster. But our Pedestrian Danger Index shows that people of color, older adults, and low-income populations are both overrepresented in pedestrian deaths and disproportionately subject to dangerous walking conditions.