(The Center Square) — Pedestrian fatalities across the United States are finally starting to fall to pre-pandemic levels.
But Pennsylvania bucked the national trend.
According to an analysis by the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, drivers will kill 192 pedestrians in 2023, eight more than in 2022 and 25% more than in 2019.
According to the report, across the country, Drivers killed more than 7,300 people. 2023.
In total, that’s a decrease of more than 5% compared to 2022, but 14% more than the 6,400 driver deaths in 2019.
Since then, light trucks have overtaken cars in the number of pedestrian fatalities, and while the number of pedestrian deaths during the day has been gradually increasing since 2010, the number of nighttime deaths has jumped from about 3,000 to about 5,800.
“The decline in pedestrian fatalities offers hope that we are seeing the start of a new trend after years of rising fatalities,” GHSA CEO Jonathan Adkins said in a press release. “Each death is a tragedy and is preventable. We know how to improve pedestrian safety: more infrastructure, vehicles designed to protect pedestrians, slower speeds, and fair traffic policing. We need all of this, and more, to keep the numbers moving in the right direction.”
Pedestrian deaths are not evenly distributed across the country.
Northeastern and Midwestern states tend to have fewer deaths per capita, while Southern and Western states have more.
The states with the highest death rates per capita in 2023 were New Mexico, Texas, and Nevada, while the lowest were Nebraska, Minnesota, and Vermont.
The updated report confirms trends GHSA found in the spring.
Pennsylvania is one of 21 states and the District of Columbia where pedestrian fatalities increased.
As Pennsylvania struggles to reduce pedestrian fatalities, the PA Department of Transportation is working to meet federal mandates to make roads safer by targeting high-risk areas.
The pedestrian deaths are a warning that America’s roads are becoming more dangerous for everyone.
Since 2010, pedestrian fatalities have increased by a staggering 77 percent, while other road fatalities have increased by 22 percent.
Deaths are rising even as Americans are walking less.
“Studies have shown that walking behavior has declined overall since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the GHSA report noted. “From 2019 to 2022, the average number of daily trips taken per year nationwide declined by 36%. The fact that pedestrian fatalities are trending upward from 2019 to 2022 despite reduced pedestrian contacts should raise alarm bells among road safety advocates.”
The same day the GHSA released its report, another pedestrian fatality was recorded in Allentown. The driver killed Lackawanna County resident Li-Qiang Hu. Tuesday night.
