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 Nationally, pedestrian deaths rose 10% in 2015 from the previous
year, researchers estimated based on data supplied by states for
January through June.
“We are projecting the largest year-to-year increase in pedestrian
fatalities since national records have been kept, and therefore we
are quite alarmed,” said study co-author Richard Retting of Sam
Schwartz Consulting, referring to a fatality reporting system
established in 1975.
An improving economy and falling gas prices are at least partially
to blame, said Retting, who did the analysis on behalf of the
Governors Highway Safety Association.
“Economic recoveries generally coincide with higher traffic fatality
rates because of the increase in discretionary income, potentially
leading to extra vacations and more travel at night and on
weekends,” Retting said by email.
With more disposable income, more parents may have handed car keys
to teens, generally among the most dangerous drivers on the road.
In the first six months of 2015, there were 2,368 pedestrian
fatalities, up from 2,232 for the same period one year earlier, the
report found.
Pedestrians also account for a larger share of deaths than they did
a decade ago – when people outside vehicles represented just 11% of
fatalities from crashes.
In addition to more people traveling by car and by foot, there are
also more distracted drivers and pedestrians these days.
Cell phones are ubiquitous in cars and on sidewalks, contributing to
a growing number of accidents that involve people focused on mobile
devices instead of their surroundings, Retting noted.
At the same time, cars have more safety features that make them
crashworthy, allowing a larger proportion of drivers and passengers
inside vehicles to survive collisions and leading to a surge in the
proportion of fatalities involving pedestrians.
Drunk drivers accounted for 15% of fatal pedestrian crashes last
year. But drunk pedestrians accounted for more than twice as many of
these deaths.
“One-third of fatally injured pedestrians have blood-alcohol
concentrations above the legal limit for driving; many more are
impaired,” Retting said.
Pedestrian hazards may also depend on where people live.
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The number of pedestrian deaths ranged from none in Vermont to 347
in California during the first half of last year.
Four states – California, Florida, Texas and New York – accounted
for 42% of pedestrian deaths per resident population.
The findings are preliminary. And it’s possible shifts in accident
patterns during the second half of 2015 might change the rate of
increase for pedestrian deaths. Still, the authors conclude, the
results suggest that people need to be more cautious on the road and
on sidewalks.
The findings highlight how more people driving and walking may add
up to more pedestrian deaths, particularly in places that aren’t
designed to be safe for travel on foot, said Dr. Stephen Hargarten,
director of the Injury Research Center at the Medical College of
Wisconsin.
Often, communities aren’t pedestrian friendly, and lack walkways
separated from roads or traffic laws requiring cars to stop for
people on foot, Hargarten, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by
email.
“The environments are really designed for cars to flow, not for
pedestrians,” Hargarten said.
“Certainly, the distracted pedestrian, the intoxicated pedestrian,
the older pedestrians are all at risk,” Hargarten added. “We see
this in the emergency departments across the U.S. – the pedestrians
are kids not paying attention, adults who are intoxicated, and older
adults who have limited peripheral vision.”
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1p5mpfU
Governors Highway Safety Association 2016.
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