Pedestrial Traffic Fatalities by State(2022 preliminary data)

[Governors Highway Safety Association]

"Each year, the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) provides a first look at national and state-level pedestrian fatality data and trends through a Spotlight on Highway Safety report, typically published in late spring or early summer.

This year’s report is divided into three sections. It presents pedestrian fatality projections for all of 2022 based on preliminary data provided by the states, an in-depth analysis of recently released 2021 pedestrian fatality data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and a review of strategies to reduce pedestrian crashes, injuries and deaths. As in previous reports, some preliminary data have been adjusted slightly to account for historical underreporting. A preliminary report analyzing state-reported pedestrian fatality data for the first six months of 2022 was released in February.

The first section of this report presents preliminary 2022 fatality data using information reported to GHSA by all states (except Oklahoma) and the District of Columbia (D.C.). Based on the state data, GHSA projects 7,508 pedestrians were killed in traffic crashes, a 1% increase over the 7,443 pedestrian fatalities recorded by these 49 states and D.C. in 2021. This continues the upward trend that the United States has been experiencing for decades and represents the highest number of pedestrian deaths since 1981.

The second portion of the report analyzes the federal 2021 FARS data (the most recent national motor vehicle-related fatality data available), parsing out various characteristics of pedestrian fatalities. This includes fatality rates (per state population), where and when the crashes occurred, whether speeding or alcohol was involved, the type of vehicle involved and more.

Finally, the report includes examples of state- and community-level efforts to better understand the factors that contribute to pedestrian crashes and fatalities and, more importantly, how to prevent them from happening in the future. There is a particular emphasis on the Safe System approach, which recognizes both human mistakes and human vulnerability and designs a system with many redundancies in place to protect everyone..."
Pedestrial Traffic Fatilities