Group wants alcohol safety programs for bikers, walkers
Governors association cites death statistics
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Citing research that shows the number of deaths involving drunken pedestrians and bicyclists isn’t falling as fast as drunken driving deaths, the Governors Highway Safety Association is calling on states to increase safety campaigns for walkers and bikers.
A report released Wednesday by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reviewed the number of alcohol-related traffic deaths from 1982 through 2014. Deaths were down across the board, but there were sharp differences among the categories: The number of fatalities involving drunken passenger vehicle drivers fell from 51 percent to 32 percent, for pedestrians from 45 percent to 35 percent and for bicyclists from 28 percent to 21 percent.
Angela Eichelberger, a senior research scientist at the institute and the study’s lead author, said it is concerning that drunken driving deaths are falling significantly faster than deaths of bikers and walkers.
“Education and enforcement campaigns aimed at reducing impaired driving may give people the erroneous impression that walking or riding a bike is a safe alternative,” Ms. Eichelberger said. “The public needs to be better informed about the dangers of alcohol impairment for anybody on the road.”
The study comes on the heels of a report by the governors association two weeks ago that showed pedestrian fatalities in general rose 22 percent in the past two years. Jonathan Adkins, executive director of the governors association, said both groups of statistics show the need for states to “recalibrate” their efforts to help protect drunken commuters of all kinds.
“State highway safety offices and their partners should broaden their anti-drunk driving campaigns to encourage bicyclists and pedestrians to consider safer
transportation alternatives after heavy drinking,” he said in a news release. “Alcohol impairment can lead to unsafe behavior by bicyclists and pedestrians, as well as drivers.”
Rich Kirkpatrick, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, said the state is seeing similar trends in alcohol-related traffic deaths.
“At this time, our anti-DUI campaigns are broader towards responsible traveling in all modes of transportation,” he said in an email. “However, we support additional research specific to evaluating the effectiveness of strategies and countermeasures designed to reduce alcohol impairment of pedestrians and bicyclists.”
He added that the state is sharing lessons learned operating the Pedestrian Safety Focus City program in Philadelphia, which uses advertising and social media to encourage safe practices, with other communities. It also plans to take advantage of federal funds available next year to support pedestrian safety enforcement and education projects.
Ms. Eichelberger said more research is needed to determine what kinds of programs can be effective with bikers and walkers. In addition to safety campaigns, she said, states should consider better lighting and more physical barriers between streets and sidewalks or berms.
“There haven’t really been campaigns about drinking and walking or drinking and biking, so it’s maybe something people haven’t realized is a dangerous activity,” she said.