Although US traffic deaths dropped in the last two years, the number of people killed on US roads remains much higher than two decades ago.
Smart Growth America released its 2026 Dangerous by Design report, which assesses the state of road safety in the United States.
According to the report, "The 72 percent increase in pedestrian fatalities in the 15 years from 2009 to 2024 outpaces both the growth in population and vehicle miles traveled. While pedestrian deaths have in fact decreased slightly for two straight years (2022 to 2024), 2024’s total is higher than every year on record since 1982, other than the modern-day historic highs experienced from 2021 to 2023."
The report notes that framing the recent decrease in deaths as positive obscures the high number of fatalities. "We should not be celebrating a modest 3.9 percent decrease from 2023-24, considering that we are still nowhere close to 2019 levels when 6,200 total deaths of people walking led to headlines bemoaning this historic high."
The report adds that the most dangerous regions are becoming even more deadly, with the highest pedestrian fatality rates reaching 5.5 as opposed to 3.52 in 2009.
FULL STORY: Dangerous by Design
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Journal of the American Planning Association