cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/12581895
GHSA previously issued a report finding that 3,434 pedestrians were killed on U.S. roadways in the first half of 2022, based on preliminary data reported by State Highway Safety Offices. A second report analyzing state-reported data for all of 2022 found that roadways continue to be incredibly deadly for pedestrians. There were 2.37 pedestrian deaths per billion vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in 2022, up yet again and continuing a troubling trend of elevated rates that began in 2020.
The report also includes an analysis of 2021 data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System to provide additional context on when, where and how drivers strike and kill people on foot. This analysis uncovered a shocking safety disparity for people walking: Pedestrian deaths rose a troubling 77% between 2010 and 2021, compared to a 25% rise in all other traffic fatalities. The data analysis was conducted by Elizabeth Petraglia, Ph.D., of research firm Westat.
To combat this pedestrian safety crisis, GHSA supports a comprehensive solution based on the Safe System approach outlined in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Roadway Safety Strategy (NRSS). Each of the five elements of this approach – safe road users, safe vehicles, safe speeds, safe roads and post-crash care – contribute in different but overlapping ways to provide a multi-layered safety net that can protect people on foot as well as other road users. The report includes examples of how states are utilizing Safe System principles to improve pedestrian safety.
It’s worth noting that in most other rich countries, pedestrian deaths have been falling. And before anyone says something stupid about how America is uniquely big or new, even Canada has 60% fewer traffic fatalities.
Since this isn’t Reddit I find the likelihood of some dumbass coming in trying to claim that America is somehow uniquely exceptional is pretty low. Though I would grant that America’s exceptionally awful…
Alas, I’ve read tons of comments, even on this community, about how the US is “too big” for trains or walkable cities to work. I think the car-centric mindset cuts across the political spectrum — or put another way, the topic hasn’t been fully politicized yet.
I live in Sweden but my girlfriend is from Seattle so I have visited there a couple of times. There are a few cultural differences that I think play a major part in why pedestrian deaths have gone up in America but not elsewhere.
As already mentioned in this thread Americans tend to be more relaxed about using their phones when driving. It didn’t seem like a big deal to read a text message or anything.
Another thing is reflective clothing. Driving at night in Washington I saw nobody wearing anything reflective at all. Here in Sweden outside of city centers at night more often than not pedestrians will wear something reflective to actually be visible.
Lastly the drunk driving culture was very different. In Sweden people would hesitate to have a drink with lunch if they knew they had to drive later that day. In America we went to a brewery whilst waiting for the ferry.
just this morning some idiot didn’t want to stop at a crosswalk in a 25mph downtown area…
the car that stopped going the other direction happened to be a cop car (who incidentally almost got rear-ended by some other idiot not paying attention).
as i stepped onto the curb on the other side of the road, i saw red and blue flashing behind me and heard them on their PA ordering the driver to pull over and stop at the next corner.
In totally, completely, and in all ways unrelatedly: smartphones on the rise, gigantic pickups and suvs are on the rise, and tactile buttons you can hit without looking at a screen are on the decline.
and anecdotally it seems like since covid and not driving as much, everyone seems to have gotten worse at driving and still hasn’t quite picked it back up yet.
the machines require blood
every culture engages in human sacrifice
So why is this? The answers so far seem unsatisfactory, since things like phones, SUVs and car-centric infrastructure are on the rise in other countries as well, without that staggering rise in deaths.
I spent about 3 minutes browsing the report linked in the article, and am rather less confident than before. For example, on pages 25 and 26 they look at the share of SUVs in deaths and sales. And while both figures are rising, the bodycount from non-SUVs has gone up as well.
The answer is probably not a single factor anyways. Can anyone make a more or less informed guess what might explain the US being so bad?
phones.
If America is anything like Canada, it’s because of the insane uptick in people just darting into traffic to avoid using crosswalks.
Seriously. Driving in Canada is like playing reverse whack a mole. You have to be on the lookout for jaywalkers darting across busy ass roads constantly.
