Dive Brief:
- Pedestrian fatalities continued their slow decline in the first half of 2024, down 3.8% from the recent peak in the same period in 2022, according to a preliminary estimate released today by the Governors Highway Safety Association. A total of 3,304 pedestrians lost their lives in traffic crashes from January to June in 2024, a 2.6% reduction from that period in the prior year.
- Estimated pedestrian deaths increased in 23 states and the District of Columbia from the first half of 2023 to the comparable period in 2024, while 22 states saw declines; in five states the number of deaths did not change.
- Even with the recent decline, GHSA data shows pedestrian deaths were 48% higher in the first half of 2024 than in that period a decade earlier.
Dive Insight:
Pedestrian fatalities jumped sharply from 2020 to 2022, according to GHSA data collected by state highway safety offices. The GHSA blames a “steep drop in traffic enforcement nationwide” along with other factors such as roads designed for higher speeds, heavier vehicles like large pickup trucks and SUVs and the lack of pedestrian-friendly infrastructure such as sidewalks, marked crosswalks and roadway lighting.
“While recent incremental progress is welcome, it doesn’t disguise the fact that the numbers moved in the wrong direction over the past decade,” GHSA CEO Jonathan Adkins said in a statement.
California had the largest year-over-year decrease in pedestrian deaths in the first half of 2024, but it remains among the top three states in total pedestrian fatalities, along with Florida and Texas. On a per-population basis, the deadliest states are largely in the Southern half of the U.S., but they also include Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Kentucky, Oregon and the District of Columbia. Mississippi and New Mexico had the highest pedestrian deaths per 100,000 people. Car-centric, Sun Belt cities that often lack adequate public transportation consistently rank among the most dangerous places for pedestrians.
The GHSA recommends a comprehensive approach to improving pedestrian safety. This includes road changes such as speed humps and rumble strips to slow drivers on certain streets, safety education campaigns and equipping new vehicles with automatic emergency braking that can detect pedestrians.
Last year, the U.S. Department of Transportation issued a new safety standard that would require AEB technology on all cars and light trucks starting in 2029. However, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, an automotive industry lobbyist group that represents Ford, General Motors, Honda and Toyota, among other automakers, opposes the regulation and filed suit Jan. 17 to repeal the rule. The National Highway Safety Administration said it would delay the effective date of the rule until March 20 in response to President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order to postpone any rules that had not yet taken effect.
