Transportation for America has just released a sobering study that documents the dangers that pedestrians face on our streets every day. According to the study, in the last 15 years, more than 76,000 Americans have been killed while crossing or walking along a street in their community. More than 43,000 Americans – including 3,906 children under 16 – have been killed this decade alone. This is the equivalent of a jumbo jet going down roughly every month, yet it receives nothing like the kind of attention that would surely follow such a disaster.
The report points to the lack of investment in pedestrian safety infrastructure in many metropolitan areas, such as sidewalks, bicycle paths, median islands and frequent crosswalks and pedestrian signals. The report also ranks the Pedestrian Danger Index (PDI) of 360 metropolitan areas nationwide. The alarming statistics highlight the need for a National Complete Streets Policy in the next federal transportation authorization bill that takes into account all users of our streets. Click here for a summary of the report or to download the full report.
