Earlier this month, Smart Growth America released their “Dangerous By Design 2022” report, which includes the most up-to-date look at how dangerous state and metro areas are for people walking and identifies the deadliest places in the United States based on traffic fatalities between 2016 and 2020. Their report found that more than 6,500 people were struck and killed while walking in 2020 (an average of nearly 18 per day), which is a 4.5 percent increase over 2019 data.
Report Highlights
The report highlights an alarming trend – the number of people being stuck and killed increased during the Coronavirus pandemic, despite the number of drivers on the road decreasing significantly. Smart Growth America credits the epidemic to the dangerous design of our streets, which they note too often prioritize drivers getting to their destinations as quickly as possible, at the expense of everyone’s safety. This lack of safety creates dangerous streets for vulnerable road users, like pedestrians, who are forced to walk on streets that are known to kill more and more pedestrians each year. Based on early estimates by the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), 7,485 pedestrians were struck and killed in 2021 which would be the highest number in 40 years. This would also constitute an 11 to 13 percent jump in one year, the largest single-year jump in fatalities in decades.
(Photo credit: Smart Growth America)
Another finding from the report shows that even with less cars on the road, people of color overall, but particularly Native and Black Americans continue to be more likely to die while walking. This is not a new trend, but what is concerning is the trend continued and was even exacerbated with less cars on the road during the Coronavirus pandemic.
(Photo credit: Smart Growth America)
One’s income level is also directly connected to their likelihood to be hit and killed while walking in the United States. The report found that people walking in lower-income areas are killed at far higher rates than those walking in higher-income areas, and that this was likely due to the inclusion of more safety infrastructure in higher-income areas, like access to parks and comfortable sidewalks on quieter streets. In addition, those in lower-income areas oftentimes have less access to sidewalks, parks, and are more likely to live next to arterial roads built for higher speeds and higher volumes of cars.
(Photo credit: Smart Growth America)
The report also looked at how metropolitan areas ranked compared to each other across the United States, ranking the top twenty that were most dangerous for pedestrians between 2016 and 2020. The list included four Californian metropolitan areas:
- Bakersfield, CA
- Stockton, CA
- Fresno, CA
- Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
(Photo credit: Smart Growth America)
California as a state ranked as the ninth most dangerous state for pedestrians, with 2.4 average yearly pedestrian deaths per 100k people. In fact, California isn’t improving and is getting more deadly, with deaths increasing from the previous 2011 to 2015 period.
Access the full report here for a summary of findings, recommendations for federal and state agencies and elected officials, and practical steps that cities, towns, and residents can take to prioritize street safety for all.
Want to learn more?
The authors of the report, along with special guests, will discuss the findings and talk about the crisis across the United States on Thursday, July 28 from 3 to 4 p.m. EST. You can register for the webinar here.