Posted on 07/04/2023 6:28:53 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
From behind the wheel, cars and trucks today are safer than ever before. But for people on the street, vehicles haven’t been this dangerous in over a generation.
A study of State Highway Safety Offices data released by the Governor’s Highway Safety Association in June assessed American drivers killed at least 7,500 pedestrians in 2022. That’s the most of any year since 1981. Missing data from Oklahoma means the final number is likely even higher.
Experts attribute the increase of deaths on faster driving speeds, a lack of pedestrian-friendly road infrastructure and consumer tastes shifting towards increasingly heavier and high-riding trucks and SUVs.
“The vehicle has evolved to better protect the people inside of it, but it hasn’t evolved to protect people on the outside,” said Pam Shadel Fischer, the GHSA’s Senior Director of External Engagement.
That wasn’t always the case. Data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System, another source analyzed by the GHSA, shows this country was successfully reducing the number of pedestrians killed by drivers for decades. Pedestrian deaths between 1980 and 2009 dropped in half, from 8,070 to 4,109. Data from FARS is available for more years than the SHSO but is treated as a separate source by the report because of differences in how both classify deaths.
But the years since 2010 erased most of that progress. Pedestrian deaths between 2010 and 2021 rose by a stunning 77%.
Pedestrian deaths are more common in southern states with warmer weather, which traditionally are where people are more likely to be out and about and potentially walking or running, Fischer said.
The overall rate of pedestrian deaths per 100,000 residents was 2.28 in 2022, according to the GHSA. But pedestrians were killed more frequently per capita in most of the Sunbelt states, especially Arizona and New Mexico.
(Excerpt) Read more at channel3000.com ...
Curious. No data including drunk illegals and their 'driving habits' in those invaded states?
Grandma got run over by a reindeer....
Perhaps in rural Wisc.?
I work in this area professionally, and I can tell you that one of the biggest factors in pedestrian fatalities over the last 20 years has been the adoption of "pedestrian-friendly" streets with crosswalks in places that simply aren't safe for pedestrians.
Inner city drive-bys aren’t included either.
They fail to mention how many times the idiot pedestrians are at fault. This is just one of the many reason why I have a dashcam.
I would think it’s the invention of smart phones. ‘09 was about the start of mass use.
Or illegals scurrying across roads at night?
Do they include bicycles in the deaths - if so, not surprised considering the ATTITUDE of those riding them.
The world is ever changing and that includes most all of us. Not
sure what needs to be done but we are all part of the process.
Americans have become genetically and intellectually inferior over the past half century. Happy Independence Day.
They’d be safer if drivers obeyed the rules of the road, and if the fuzz could be bothered to enforce them.
Traffic fatalities are up double digits in NYS for the same reasons.
It’s not just pedestrians dying.
I drive a lot for work and my experience over the last 20 years or so is that the vast majority of pedestrians were never taught to look both ways before crossing the street. Everyday I see stupid people walking into traffic without looking anywhere but their stupid phone. Most of the pedestrians that get ran over deserve it. It is the lack of respect and common courtesy that causes it. Especially from snot noised yutes.
I can tell you what needs to be done: Keep in mind that we have one enemy.
One.
Deep State.
And when we treat each other like crap, turn on each other, refuse to stand up for one another we make Deep State’s job far easier.
We need to hang together.
It’s them or us.
Texting and walking along with texting and driving
Would the growth in population also contribute? I notice the author only includes total pedestrian deaths and not deaths per hundred thousans.
Highway death rate (all) went up when Oregon legalized pot. Highway death rate (all) went up when Oregon legalized hard drugs.
“The vehicle has evolved to better protect the people inside of it, but it hasn’t evolved to protect people on the outside,”
Here we go again, the same with guns. Blame the inanimate object and not the negligence or malice of the people involved.
1). Proliferation of weed smokers driving and smoking walking.
2). Pedestrians looking at their phones while walking.
3). COVID years where police 👮♂️ pulled nobody over and drivers got used to disrespecting traffic laws.
“...and if the fuzz could be bothered to enforce them”
Direct result of “defund the fuzz”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.