Pedestrian deaths spike to 40-year high nationwide

Pennsylvania deaths up 24%, report says

Walking can be a deadly activity, and it seems to be getting more dangerous every year.

On the heels of record-breaking statistics on general traffic deaths earlier this month, the Governors Highway Safety Association released projections that show pedestrian deaths reached a 40-year high in 2021.

The 37-page report says pedestrian deaths rose by 714 last year, an 11.5% increase to 7,485.

“We have an epidemic of people dying when they are walking, and we have drivers that are killing people that shouldn’t be killed,” said Pam Schadel Fischer, the association’s senior director of engagement.

The study shows the majority of deaths are caused by the same types of problem driving — speeding, impaired driving and distracted driving — that have also contributed to the traffic deaths spike during the pandemic. Officials theorize that drivers who did take to the roads during the peak of the pandemic took advantage of fewer other drivers to speed and engage in other risky behavior, and that hasn’t changed as traffic has increased back to normal levels.

And pedestrians — who don’t have a metal box around them — are in more danger than motorists. The number of pedestrian deaths increased 54% from 2010 to 2020, with increases every year compared to a 13% increase for all other traffic deaths.

In Pennsylvania, deaths increased by 40 to 186 last year, a 24.4% increase.

Speeding vehicles are particularly deadly to pedestrians, with the seriousness of injuries increasing dramatically for every 5 mph the vehicle is traveling.

“We need the public to join in and say, ‘Enough is enough,’ ” Fischer said. “We need to change and tell people this kind of behavior is unacceptable.

“We have to change the culture in this country. We have to all say, ‘What can I do to change this?’ ”

The study shows many of the deaths take place in dark areas at night, a total of 76% of the fatalities in 2020. The number of daytime pedestrian deaths remained relatively stable at between 1,068 and 1,311 from 2010 to 2020, but deaths after dark rose from 3,030 to 4,981.

Other conditions also are a factor, with far more pedestrians being killed in areas without sidewalks.

Fischer said she believes it will take an approach similar to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, which has reduced alcohol-related traffic deaths, to change the behavior of drivers in other areas. She said she is encouraged by U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s call for a “safe system” approach that includes better road design, increased enforcement, education and improved emergency response.

Those tactics have worked in Europe and Australia, which saw traffic deaths go down during the pandemic, Fischer said. But there also will have to be buy-in from the public for that approach to work quickly in the U.S., she said.

“If ever there is a wake-up call in this country, this should be it,” she said. “We have to call each other out and hold ourselves responsible, too.”