Pedestrian road deaths hit 28-year high

DETROIT — The number of pedestrians killed on U.S. roads last year was the highest in 28 years, an increase partly resulting from driver and walker distraction, alcohol and drug impairment and more SUVs on the road, a safety organization report said.

Using data reported by states for the first half of 2018, the Governors Highway Safety Association estimated that 6,227 pedestrians were killed last year. That’s up 4 percent from 2017 and 35 percent — or more than 1,500 additional deaths — from 2008.

In about half the fatal crashes, either the driver or the pedestrian was impaired by alcohol, with blood alcohol levels of 0.08 percent, the study found.

The association says more people are walking to work and they’re more distracted by smartphones. America’s switch from cars to SUVs and light trucks caused more deaths because the taller SUVs tend to hit pedestrians in the head and upper torso, causing more severe injuries, the report said.

“At the same impact speed, a pedestrian is much more likely to die in an SUV crash than in a car crash,” said Richard Retting, a consultant and former top traffic safety official in New York who wrote the report.

The number of pedestrian deaths involving SUVs rose 50 percent from 2013 to 2017, while passenger-car-related deaths increased by 30 percent, the study found. The number of walkers killed by passenger cars was still higher in 2017 at 2,279, but SUVs accounted for 1,097 deaths.