Roads in U.S. increasingly dangerous for pedestrians

On Monday, 4-year-old Abigail Blumenstein and 1-year-old Josh Lew were struck and killed by an out-of-control car while crossing the street with their parents in Brooklyn.

The driver, who police say may have been experiencing a medical condition, ran a red light before striking the pedestrians, according to NBC New York. Since 2016, the driver’s car has been issued four summonses for red light camera violations, and four more for school zone speeding violations, according to public records viewed by Staten Island Live.

The incident underscores a troubling trend in road safety in recent years. After decades of decline in the rate of fatal car accidents, numbers have crept back up in recent years. The trend is particularly pronounced for pedestrian fatalities: In 2016, the most recent year with complete Transportation Department data, nearly 6,000 pedestrians were struck and killed by vehicles on public roads.

That number is up by an alarming 46 percent since it hit a record low of 4,109 pedestrian fatalities in 2009. In raw number terms, 2016 had the highest number of pedestrian crash fatalities since 1990. Adjusted for population, in 2016 the rate of pedestrian fatalities per 100,000 people was the highest since 1998.

Last month, the Governors Highway Safety Association released a report noting that rising pedestrian fatalities are correlated with the growth in smartphone adoption and use. Although deaths related to distracted driving are, on the whole, trending downward, smartphone use could be affecting pedestrians, too, by making them less aware of their surroundings.

Substance use is another factor. The GHSA specifically calls out marijuana use, noting that in the first half of 2017, pedestrian fatalities increased greatest in states that had previously voted to legalize recreational marijuana. Like smartphones, marijuana can impair drivers and pedestrians.

But looking at state-level data for 2016, there isn’t any clear correlation between marijuana legality and pedestrian deaths. States in the southern half of the country generally have higher rates of pedestrian fatalities.

Alcohol is another known factor in pedestrian fatalities. Eighteen percent of drivers involved in fatal pedestrian crashes tested positive for alcohol, compared with 38 percent of pedestrians involved in these crashes.