[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
