Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) released final data for 2022 traffic crashes revealing 7,522 people were struck and killed while walking that year. This crisis isn’t new—pedestrian fatalities are on a consistent upward trajectory and have increased by 68 percent since 2011. We need strong leadership and swift, wholesale action to make our … Continued
Last week, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) released final data for 2021 revealing that drivers of motor vehicles struck and killed 7,341 people while walking that year. This massive 12.4 percent increase over 2020 is both higher than predicted and illustrative of the urgent need for a better approach to gathering and collecting this data. We can’t say we care about a crisis that we are failing to measure well.
While the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic upended many aspects of daily life, including how people get around, one terrible, long-term trend was unchanged: the alarming increase in people being struck and killed while walking. The number of people struck and killed while walking reached yet another new high in 2020. More than 6,500 people were struck and killed … Continued
Far too many people walking, biking, and waiting for the bus die on North America’s streets. They don’t have to. Proven tools—from safer speed limit setting to safer street designs—have proven to save lives, and can quickly stem America’s traffic safety crisis. Here’s how.
the increasing size and weight of personal vehicles are also having an impact on the steadily increasing number of people struck and killed while walking. In addition to designing safer streets, improving vehicle design along four main criteria is also critical for reducing pedestrian fatalities.
This guest post from Strong Towns is a supplement to the 2022 edition of Dangerous by Design, our landmark report on the alarming increase in people being struck and killed while walking, and how the way we design our streets is part of the problem.
After reading a report like this, some reporters, residents, and local leaders may be tempted to reach for increased traffic enforcement and financial penalties as an obvious solution. But relying on enforcement and financial penalties to solve issues that stem from street design cannot solve the epidemic of traffic fatalities. And even a simple traffic … Continued
Dangerous by Design 2021 chronicles the impact of street design on pedestrian deaths, but the increasing size of the vehicle fleet is also contributing to the growing numbers of people struck and killed while walking. Federal policymakers so far appear to be asleep at the switch.
The deadliest metro areas and states for people walking, rolling, or using other assistive devices have been identified in Dangerous by Design 2021. Read and share the report today.
We took a look at one busy road outside of Orlando where a dozen people have been struck and killed by drivers in recent years. The mix of high-speed traffic with people walking, biking, and taking transit is a dangerous combination; in the event of a crash, people die. The Complete Streets Act of 2019 would go a long way to give local government more resources to redesign these dangerous streets so everyone can travel along them safely.