The number of U.S. pedestrians killed in motor-vehicle crashes last year was notably higher than prepandemic levels, says a new report from a nonprofit safety group. An estimated 7,318 pedestrians were killed in crashes in 2023, 14% more than the 6,412 killed in 2019, the Governors Highway Safety Association said. Fatalities dropped more than 5% between 2022 and 2023, however, giving the group hope that a problem that has vexed local and federal officials for decades is improving, the Wall Street Journal reports.
“We know how to improve safety for people walking—more infrastructure, vehicles designed to protect people walking, lower speeds and equitable traffic enforcement,” said the association's Jonathan Adkins. “It will take all this, and more, to keep the numbers going in the right direction.”
More than 35,000 pedestrians have died in the past five years, and the number of deaths rose nearly 77% between 2010 and 2022. The 2023 figures are projected estimates based on preliminary data from state highway-safety offices. The embrace of bigger vehicles such as pickup trucks and SUVs, an increase in speeding and a lack of pedestrian-friendly infrastructure are partly to blame, said the association's Pam Shadel Fischer. Those problems were exacerbated during the pandemic, when emptier roads allowed for more speeding, alcohol use rose and traffic enforcement declined. In the first half of 2020, the nationwide pedestrian death rate rose 20% to 2.2 deaths per one billion vehicle miles traveled, from 1.8 deaths during the same period in 2019.