Data shows 40-year-high in auto-pedestrian deaths

Data from the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) shows a steady decline in car-caused deaths since 1980, then a shift.

AUSTIN, Texas - At least 7,508 people have been struck and killed by vehicles while out walking the nation's streets in 2022 alone.

That number is the most pedestrian deaths reported since 1981, a 40-year-high, according to new data released last week by the nonprofit Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA).

"Quite frankly, we have a pedestrian safety crisis in this country," said Pam Shadel Fischer, senior director of external engagement for GHSA. "The numbers just keep going up and up."

Data shows a steady decline in car-caused traffic deaths since 1980, then a shift.

2022 saw the most pedestrians struck and killed since 1981, according to new data released last week by the nonprofit Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA). (GHSA)

"We saw this uptick in unsafe driving behaviors really, really ratchet up during COVID," says Fischer. "And we expected the numbers to go down because there were fewer people driving. But the folks who were out there on the road, many of them were engaging in unsafe behaviors, things like excessively high rates of speed. We saw a definite increase in impairment from alcohol, drugs and sometimes a combination of both."

Lingering COVID behaviors, distracted driving due to technology, and more people driving trucks and SUVs are just some of the factors contributing to a continued increase in deaths.

Brad Wheelis, spokesperson for TxDOT, says it's harder to survive crashes involving "higher profile" vehicles, such as trucks and SUVs.

"If you hit someone at a low speed in a traditional car, there's a chance that it's going to hit them in the lower extremities. They might get thrown up on the hood or knocked over, and they can survive that," Wheelis said. "When you have a higher profile vehicle that the front end of the vehicle hits them right in the torso. And that's where all your vital organs are. And it is really hard to survive one of those crashes."

In Texas, TxDOT data for 2022 shows 825 deadly traffic crashes involving pedestrians, which resulted in 828 deaths. In 2021, TxDOT says there were 5,370 crashes involving pedestrians which resulted in 843 deaths, a 15 percent increase in pedestrian deaths over the previous year.

Specifically in Austin, TxDOT says in 2021, the latest data available, there were 456 traffic crashes involving pedestrians, resulting in 62 deaths and 107 serious injuries.

Just this month two deadly car crashes involving pedestrians occurred on highways.

In 2020, TxDOT had pedestrian barriers installed along I-35, adding more in 2022 to hopefully keep pedestrians off busy roads.

"That's one big safety impact that we think is going to make a difference," said Wheelis.

Other positive strides have been made in recent decades like safety technology in vehicles.

"We've also made infrastructure improvements, but we still have a long way to go," said Fischer. "And so much of these have focused on…moving vehicles more efficiently and more safely, but maybe at the cost of the other modes of travel."