A dangerous trend is occurring on American roadways, one that’s putting those on foot directly in harm’s way: Pedestrian deaths are increasing at an unprecedented rate. And it’s nothing new – these tragedies have been on the uptick for years.
Data from the Governors Highway Safety Association indicates 7,318 pedestrians were killed in U.S. traffic crashes in 2023. And while that is down 5.4% from the year before, the numbers still are 14.1% higher than pre-pandemic levels in 2019, when 6,412 pedestrians were killed. Before 2021, the last year with more than 7,000 pedestrian deaths was 1984.
While improving drivers’ skills continues to be a priority, why – and how – are we failing pedestrians?
Top Causes for Pedestrian Deaths
Alcohol
Alcohol plays a huge role in pedestrian deaths, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Figures show that 48% of all fatal pedestrian crashes in 2022 involved a driver and/or pedestrian with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.08 or higher.
Time of day
NHTSA data shows that 78% of pedestrian fatalities in occurred in the dark, underscoring the need for drivers to be extra vigilant after sunset and before sunrise.
Speed
The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety reports the average risk of death for a pedestrian reaches 10% at an impact speed of 23 mph, 25% at 32 mph, 50% at 42 mph, 75% at 50 mph and 90% at 58 mph. Age impacts the outcome; the average risk of severe injury or death for a 70‐year-old pedestrian hit by a car traveling at 25 mph is similar to the risk for a 30‐year‐old pedestrian struck at 35 mph.
Bigger Vehicles
The type of striking vehicle also can be a factor in whether a pedestrian is injured or killed. This is especially important to note as SUVs rise in popularity and become larger and more powerful.
The issue with SUVs is twofold. The large body and elevated carriage of SUVs create more significant blind spots for motorists, making it easier for pedestrians – particularly children – to go unseen. An Indiana news station demonstrated this in an experiment that proved seven children could fit in a line stretching out from the front bumper of an SUV without the driver seeing any of them.
The vehicle’s design is also responsible for the increased likelihood a pedestrian will die after being struck by one. The higher bumpers and front ends of larger vehicles means pedestrian victims often get struck in the torso or head, damaging vital organs. Sedans, on the other hand, most commonly strike pedestrians in their lower extremities. Furthermore, when a victim gets hit by a car, they are more likely to be pushed onto the hood or roof of the car, or off to the side. A pedestrian hit by a SUV will usually be knocked forward and possibly run over.
Buying a New Car
Tips and tricks to get you through every step of buying a new car, whatever “new” means to you.
Download Now!Pedestrian Fatalities in the Northeast
“Walking should be a safe and easy way to get around town, but on average, a pedestrian is killed every 70 minutes and injured every eight minutes across the country,” said Mark Schieldrop, senior spokesperson for AAA Northeast.
According to the Governors Highway Safety Association’s latest report, here are the traffic fatality numbers by state in our region.
Connecticut: 48
Massachusetts: 69
Maine: 20
New Hampshire: 15
New Jersey: 171
New York: 283
Rhode Island: 11
Vermont: 5
How Pedestrian Can Stay Safe
AAA offers the following tips:
For Drivers
- Look out for pedestrians at all times.
- Use extra caution when driving in hard-to-see conditions, such as at night or in bad weather.
- Slow down and be prepared to stop when turning or entering a crosswalk.
- Yield to pedestrians in crosswalks. Stop well back from the crosswalk to help other drivers see the pedestrians.
- Never pass vehicles stopped at a crosswalk. There may be people crossing out of your sight.
- Follow the speed limit, especially near people on the street and in school zones.
- Be extra cautious when backing up and look for pedestrians.
- Never drive distracted or under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.
For Pedestrians
- Follow the rules of the road and obey all traffic signs and signals.
- Walk on sidewalks, if available. If there are no sidewalks, walk facing traffic and as far from traffic as possible.
- Cross streets at crosswalks or intersections. Look for cars in all directions.
- If a crosswalk or intersection is not available, locate a well-lit area where you have the best view of traffic. Wait for a gap in traffic that allows enough time to cross safely. Continue watching for traffic as you cross.
- Make eye contact with drivers to indicate your next move.
- Don’t cross between parked cars.
- Watch for cars entering or exiting driveways or backing up in parking lots.
- Be visible: wear bright-colored clothing. At night, wear a reflective vest or tape and carry a flashlight.
- Avoid alcohol and/or drugs when walking; they impair your abilities and your judgment.
For more safety advice, and to learn about free community programs, visit AAA.com.
This article has been updated and republished from a previous version.
Related Articles
Trending Articles
NEWEST ARTICLES
58 Thoughts on “Why Are Pedestrian Deaths on the Rise?”
Leave A Comment
Comments are subject to moderation and may or may not be published at the editor’s discretion. Only comments that are relevant to the article and add value to the Your AAA community will be considered. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.
Tell drivers to slow down/stop when traffic lights turn to yellow. I can’t tell you how many times a driver has accelerated to beat the light and taken up nearly half of the time the pedestrian signal gives to cross the street as the drive speeds through a red light. It occurs regularly and there is no reason for it.
You should acknowledge that pedestrians are a part of the problem too. Since we have become a “pedestrians have the right – of- way” culture people have stopped looking before they cross a road or cross from a store into a parking lot. Often they don’t even pause before barreling onto the pavement. We no-longer teach kids that they are also responsible for their own safety either. It only takes a second to look both ways before crossing a road and it could save your life. If you fail to do this and are in and accident you may be legally right but you may also be severely injured or dead. Pedestrians cannot control how well or poorly a driver drives but they can help insure their own safety by looking both ways.
As always, like everywhere else, always most of you put all the blame and responsibility on the drivers. While I agree that there are many bad, reckless drivers, out there, we need a two sided approach to work on this problem. Cops target and ticket bad drivers. No one does anything about pedestrians. Every single approach toward pedestrian saftey is a one sided approach. The drivers, the drivers, the drivers. What about the pedestrians. I am here in NYC and the hypocritical approach of vision zero is very troubling. The pedestrians in NYC very seldom wait for the green light, almost everyone Jay-walks. The attitude here is ” I have the right of way”. They don’t even look when they cross the street. Pedestrians walk while texting, talking on phone, watching videos, gaming, wearing head phones, and yet all of you ignore or, at the very least, minimize these contributing factors. Look at your own report, one line about using electronic devices. So long as those pedestrians continue to walk with their heads up their butts, their deaths will continue to rise. The right of way works when drivers see, you ,when they aren’t distracted, and when there is no mechanical failure.
I totally agree with this person. Every day I observe people entering crosswalks without a clue of traffic. They’re on their cell phones or talking with a friend and enter a crosswalk when a vehicle is right on top of them. These people believe a operator will slam on their brakes to stop not realizing the operator might not have seen them. If these pedestrians are too stupid to use caution when entering a cross walk well then they will suffer the consequences.
All good comments and yes there are many oblivious pedestrians out there. But the most important rule in driving is to do whatever you reasonably can to avoid an accident regardless of whether somebody else is not following the rules or is a totally oblivious pedestrian with his headphones on full blast. You just have to pay attention at all times, watch your speed and keep your eyes on the road. You have to assume that at least 50% of the drivers you may come across are either not fully paying attention or shouldn’t be driving.
SOME… pedestrians are stupid.
In the 1960’s….it was said “look before you cross”. We never crossed a road if a car was coming. These new rules about stopping for crosswalks are encouraging people to just “WALK” in-front of cars!! Plus my vehicle does have blindspots where the rear-view mirror is!
I realize this is going to echo some of what has been said, but it needs to be stressed: I think a large part of the increase is due to the behavior of the pedestrians themselves. I work in the greater Bridgeport, Connecticut area, and I seldom see a pedestrian paying attention to walk signals or traffic lights. If drivers must follow traffic signals, so should pedestrians. And, the fact that pedestrians have the right-of-way should not entitle them to step out in front of moving traffic, often without looking at all.
The reason that the number of pedestrians getting injured has increased is the pedestrians not using caution when crossing the street at places other than those designated for pedestrians or when the light is green for them to cross. I live in a very congested urban town and pedestrians dart out in the middle of the road without even glancing at the oncoming traffic. When the law passed that said pedestrians always have the right of way, it was totally misunderstood by some if not most that they can cross anywhere they happen to be. When I was young and before this stupid law passed, we knew to cross the street when the light was green. Period. Now, it’s a challenge for drivers to anticipate and react to anyone crossing anywhere in the middle of the road regardless of whether it’s a crosswalk or not. Unless this changes, the number of pedestrians getting injured will increase even more.
As someone who drives a Honda Accord for the last 5 years and Honda Civics for decades before that I can tell you that in my experience many pedestrians are responsible for their own injuries. I witness every single time I am on the local roads or in parking lots that pedestrians have lost their sense of reality. They don’t look up from their phones. They just walk as if nothing else is around them. They just step off the curb and start walking and just assume that all traffic will come to a halt for them. I have had people walk behind me in parking lots while my car is backing up when I cannot possible see them until the last possible second. People walk around with their ears covered and cannot hear anything going on around them, including the sound of approaching automobiles or honking. This crazy behavior is not reserved to the younger generation. Plenty of older adults who should know better indulge in this reckless behavior as well. I agree that SUV height and excessive speed and alcohol and drugs also play a role. But there would be substantially less injuries if people would pay attention to where they are and take precautions to safeguard themselves. Don’t expect the driver to see you. There is so much going on on the road these days. Drivers’ attention can be diverted by so many things. Play it safe and look both ways before you step off the curb; get out of the way of a moving vehicle; stop, let the car pass and then walk. Don’t wear anything over your ears to prevent you from hearing traffic. Use common sense.
I live in North Adams, MA and periodically go over to Williamstown, a college town (Williams College), where the pedestrians are mostly ivy-league scholars who demonstrate the most idiotic street crossing habits in the world. The main street that runs through the town and its campus is Route 2, a major highway. I’ve seen some of these scholars step out onto that highway without even looking to see if any vehicles (cars, trucks, buses) are coming or even right on top of them. Some years ago, Williamstown set up some kiosks that were supposed to alert drivers if pedestrians were in the crosswalks, as if drivers couldn’t tell that just by looking at the crosswalk—as opposed to looking at something that’s on the sidewalk. One has to wonder why they never thought to address the students and drill road safety into them?
But that’s just one town. As the article suggests, the real problem is that we have become accustomed to living in our own little worlds. You get in your car with a hot coffee in the cupholder, a song on the radio and your cell phone on the dash and you’re safe; you’re set in an extension of your house. You go out for a walk, you’ve got your cell phone spewing out tunes or you’re talking with somebody. Same thing. We’re all in our own little worlds and we all have the right of way. We have pedestrians walking in the street, as if there’s something wrong with the sidewalks. We have people in electric wheelchairs also riding in the street, instead of on the sidewalks, where they belong. And we have bicyclists riding on the sidewalks instead of in the streets, where THEY belong.
We seriously need to get our collective heads out of our backsides and start paying attention to what we are doing. Turn off the cell phones, pay attention and stop thinking that we have the right of way in all circumstances.
So this study tabulated by vehicle type. As a licensed traffic engineer, conducting such a study needs more cross-tabulations; for example, how many crashes happened, by state, with drivers AND pedestrians under the influence of marijuana vs driver age — let’s start that example in Colorado, Illinois, NY, Washington, Oregon, et. al. My educated guess would be the influence of marijuana use is increasing vehicle/pedestrian crashes…how often do you smell the unmistakable scent of that ever-increasing strengthening pot? Then ask yourself: is that a passing motorist? Is that someone staggering across the street?
One thing that I did not see mentioned is the extreme brightness of headlights. I believe this includes my own SUV. On a typical two-way neighborhood street you are “blinded by the light” coming at you at night …this is perilous for pedestrians.
All I can say is that in my small town of Fairfield, CT, just today I saw a couple at an intersection and the BIG RED HAND was on the crossing signal, but they decided to cross against the signal anyways. Also had another recent event where someone was crossing the Post Road (very busy road if you don’t know about it) and just marched into traffic and I almost hit her. While I’m sure aggressive drivers are an issue, so are pedestrians that don’t understand the rules.
There are, to be sure, many factors, but irresponsible walking is certainly contributing to the problem. People do not walk facing traffic, which I knew was a safety factor when I started running back in the ‘80s; people walk in the middle of the road, sometimes individually, sometimes in groups of four or more; people walk 3-5 dogs at a time and often let the dogs wander into the middle of the road; and all the ignoring crosswalk stuff has already been mentioned.
Part of this lackadaisical attitude toward walking can, I believe, be attributed to the covid shutdown when there weren’t many cars on the road and people just walked however and wherever they wanted
But I also feel people are driving faster and more recklessly than ever before and rarely do I see these drivers given a ticket or issued a warning.
Not too long ago I ventured slowly into a crosswalk and turning to my left noticed a car going perhaps 40-45 in a 25 zone. I stopped and as she sped by noticed that she was looking at her cellphone, not the road ahead. And this happened only a short distance from the downtown center.
Making matters even worse there was a police car headed in the opposite direction. The officer should have noticed one of the driver’s three violations, but if he or she did decided not to do anything about it.
I can’t tell you how many people walk in front of me at a cross walk either without looking or expecting me to stop at a moments notice!!
Pedestrians need to remember what my parents told me. Don’t assume someone will stop and look both ways before walking.
This is an important article. . .but, one thing I’d like to point out is how we as a society have failed the younger pedestrians, starting with the family and continuing on through their time in the schools systems of the Commonwealth. We have traffic monitors/guards/custodians on traffic duty at every school crossing with their ‘STOP’ signs enabling them to control the traffic in their particular spot. But, they DO NOT instruct the children on how to cross the street or road when they’re not there outside of school hours. The kids are so use to these ‘Crossing Guards’ controlling the vehicle traffic that in their mind they can just step out into traffic and the world will ‘STOP’ for them. Parents fail their children by not teaching them basic ‘street smarts’ when it comes to dealing with vehicle traffic as pedestrians. School systems fail the children by not teaching or reinforcing the proper way to cross the street or road when no adult is present. Drivers have great responsibility to drive with care but, pedestrians, both young and old share the responsibility for their own safety as they navigate crossing the roadways no matter where they are. Parking lots are another issue but, the same safety awareness is necessary for safe navigation of these areas as well. By the time I was in the kindergarten class my parents had taught me to be ‘street smart,’ this was their responsibility and they took it to heart. I had three older brothers and sisters and we all knew how to cross in traffic and we had no school crossing guards to “hold our hands.” At 87 years of age I’m here to thank my parents for teaching me how to coexist with the traffic then and on today’s roadways.
John is totally correct. Lets not forget Pedestrians have an obligation too., not crossing in the middle of the block to get to the other side of the street. Not crossing between parked cars. Go up to the corner and cross between the walk lines. And if theres a pedestrian light that says red not to cross, do not criss! Ive seen family’s cross their children on A red pedestrian light that clearly tells them not to cross. They do it anyway. Ive seen people cross their kids in traffic while Cars are rolling. Cannot believe people are that impatient. Cars need to be slower in trafficmost especially whete pedestrians snd kids are crossing. We use to have older kids as safety patrol monitors and police crossing guards that is rearely seen any more. Bring back crossing guards!
Considering how many people can’t seem to put down their cellphone while walking and driving it’s not surprising that accidents and deaths are rising. Another disturbing trend that I’m noticing in NYC is the increasing number of vehicles with window tint so dark that it’s impossible to see the driver even through the front windshield. How is a pedestrian supposed to know if their presence is acknowledged by a motorist if they can’t even see the driver? This bad for other motorists as well.
Amazing the lack of mention of drivers texting! Also teach not to walk out until the cars actually STOP!
I agree with Melanie. Pedestrians are at fault as much as drivers. They cross in moving traffic without even looking and many times using their sell phones. “j” walking is a thing of the past and drivers are at their mercy. Even at areas with walking lights, I have watched pedestrians activate the crossing signal and then make a run for it before the traffic and crossing lights. Then drivers must wait with no pedestrians crossing. It is time to start pedestrian fines for their dangerous crossings. Perhaps that would raise their awareness and save injuries and worse yet lives.
I was taught to look both ways and when it is clear you walk. Not today, yes pedestrians have the right of way but that does not mean walk out in front of a moving vehicle. Most time on their phones and just take their sweet time walking while you are obviously waiting for them. And that includes adults as well as children. Alot of times it is dark and you can’t see them.
another factor is that pedestrians are wearing black or very dark clothing at night. this makes them extremely difficult to see.
Agreed. If I’m out and about at night, I carry a flashlight to mark my path and make drivers aware of my location. We also have that electric scooter rental thing (Bird) in my town, at least they have front and rear light, but there are plenty of bicycles and other scooter riders riding around at night without any lighting, and don’t get me started about bikes and scooters just blowing through stop signs.
In Boston, a college town, there are traffic lights on Commonwealth Ave and other main thoroughfares in the city where a Green Light is showing and the Cross Walk on the right turn has the Pedestrian White Walk Signal at the same time. A driver may just register out of habit to continue moving or not aware of it if from out of town. I drive on Commonwealth Ave when in Boston. Strange traffic light software programming in my opinion.
Six or seven years ago I submitted a dissertation regarding left turn accidents and the A-Pillar. The bigger the SUV the bigger the A-Pillar which can block two or three people in a crosswalk. The A-Piller is only one variable which causes left turn accident. You would think that as the vehicle moves the driver would no longer be blocked by the A-Piller. So, why are people being hit in crosswalks on left turns. After thinking about this issue I determined there was another very important variable to be considered that was not obvious. The second variable is the key to left turn accident. Where are the driver’s eyes directed to when turning? When you turn your eyes develop a form of tunnel vision and throughout the turn the driver NEVER moves his/her eyes from looking over the front of the car. This is like being in a trance like state. when the turn is completed the driver again gains a normal viewing capacity but too late if there was a person or persons in the A-Piller blind spot when the turn began. Result is injury or death to a pedestrian who had the right of way. The simple way to avoid this problem is to break the trance. To have the driver scan during the turn. Buses in NY after hitting pedestrians now announce loudly that a bus is turning. The turning announcement is basically for the pedestrian but it also performs another function. It breaks the drivers trance. Much more to this interesting phenomenon. Tried to patent a device to save live and break the trance on turns. Turns out car companies have an infinite number of patents for devices they will never use. One company had a device which in fact was unlike mine but the examiner decided the two devices were similar and denied my patent. If approved my device would have save thousands of lives and prevented untold injuries.
I think a lot of it has to do with people being taught pedestrians have the right of way, without also being taught they should stop and wait for traffic to clear before stepping into the crosswalk. I see so many people just hop off a sidewalk into traffic without even looking, especially in the Boston Cambridge area.
I live in a city, and walk/ use public transportation most of the time. I have noticed increasingly dangerous driving behavior, ESPECIALLY looking at cell phones behind the wheel, running red lights and failing to stop for pedestrians in cross walks. There needs to be stricter penalties for distracted driving.
I am 75, and am still able to walk well. I try to walk to do as many errands as possible. When I try to cross the street at a well marked crosswalk, some drivers are very good and stop to let me cross. But most do not. My observation is that drivers of large vehicles have let power go to their heads and have become bullies as a result. They just can’t be bothered to give anyone else a break. There is one town about 15 miles away, where it is a different situation. The police there are very vigilant about protecting pedestrians and as a result, drivers there are much more careful and courteous. When I have visited Europe, I have found a similar situation. Drivers almost always stop for pedestrians. I was absolutely shocked by this- couldn’t believe it at first. And as to the right turn on red, it seemed like a good idea, but at busy intersections there is no time when it is safe to cross in a crosswalk. Vehicles are always a threat, no matter what the lights show.
Having traveled streets, roads and highways of the Northeast extensively for work for more than 30 years, I am amazed that the numbers of pedestrian hit and killed are not much higher. It is my observation that at least 90% of pedestrians walk or jog on the vehicle travel surface, on the wrong side of the road or street with their back to traffic and for the last decade or more have earbuds stuck in their ears. It is also easily observable the the number of distracted, angry, aggressive drivers has also increased exponentially. It seems that far too many people expect someone else will insure their safety on the road, no one take responsibility for themselves.
The reason is simple… people were taught to look both ways before crossing the road… but not anymore… pedestrians now think they have the right a way and they are sadly mistaken
I agree with most of the comments, especially those stressing the need for pedestrians to pay attention to what’s going on around them…I always told my kids that when a pedestrian gets hit by a vehicle, it’s almost always because TWO people weren’t paying attention.
In addition, I want to point out that the entire premise of the article is flawed, because it uses the wrong denominator to calculate pedestrian death rates. What does total vehicle miles traveled have to do with pedestrian death rates, especially since a very high proportion of those miles are on high-speed expressways where there aren’t supposed to even be any pedestrians present? I’m not sure what the denominator should be, but I do know for sure this isn’t it.
One major cause is not even touched upon. Car manufacuterers installing more & more apps on dashboard screens. The only thing that should be on these screens is cell phone access and GPS apps. Return radio access and heat/temperature controls to knobs & dials that do not require the driver to look away–knobs/dials can be identified by touch. The more features added to these screens, the more the driver is looking away from the road. I believe since auto manufacturers have reduced their costs by installing multiple features on screens–accidents have increased. The Government should step in and limit features on dash screens–Let’s keep the driver’s eyes on the road not on a dash screen.
I can agree with the majority of comments, from both sides of the issue. Mostly because I see it everyday. What occurs to me is that a person who is inconsiderate, arrogant, ignorant of the rules, or chronically distracted behaves that way either while driving or walking.
at night the brighter lights on newer vehicles make it harder to see! on-coming vehicles tend to blind drivers and they lose sight of people as they cross the road in front of you.
I see many younger people,on their phones or whatever,just srep out into the road as if they own it. I know that the law is to stop And give them the right of way but they need to look and see that you are stopping for them..
I live in a college town , and those kids are always on their cellphone , stepping of the curb and not even looking !
SUV may have more distracted-by-children drivers?
The new LED headlights of oncoming traffic are blinding, making it difficult to see pedestrians at night. Recent articles in other news outlets have recognized this problem. Will AAA address this further than their recommendation to “look to the right”? That does not help!
I have seen some drivers pull out from behind me at a RED light and stop sign and just go through!!!
I have seen this, too. Also, sometimes a person is sitting at a red light and decides they’ve waited long enough and just drives through, as if THEY decide the red light is too long.
The article irresponsibly seems to place more blame on pedestrians. So many drivers are untrained or undertrained, and drive like macho cowboys. And why wasn’t one of the suggestions to simply not drive an SUV?? Most people who own them don’t drive off-road or have large families, but buy them nonetheless.
The idea of blaming the type of vehicle (SUV’s) is ridiculous !! Yes drivers are partly to blame, it is difficult to believe that some have a license but don’t appear to know the rules of the road OR just don’t care.
I have seen drivers going in the wrong direction in parking lots and shopping centers BUT pedestrians also have little understanding of what it would be like to be hit by the smallest vehicle @ 25 mph..
I believe the article blamed SUVs for deaths, not incidents. I witnessed a car strike a pedestrian who rolled over the hood, roof, and trunk of the car. Once back on the street, he got up and kept walking. The driver hesistated and kept on going. Really. I think an SUV would have put the walker on the sidelines for a time.
I know for myself that not having the visible poles with RED AND YELLOW cross lights has to be major factor. I have seen people walk right out with the idea that traffic has to come to a screeching halt when the pedestrian decides to just walk. These little signs that say watch out for pedestrian crossing is useless and so are the tiny blinking lights that I assume are in place the very large RED AND YELLOW crossing lights. I can not tell you how many times I have been frightened out of my mind when all of sudden there are people who appear in front of me who decide they want to cross. What ever happened to normal RED AND YELLOW cross lights?? Its ridiculous that they were taken down and replaced with nonsense!
Absolutely true
I couldn’t of said it better it so true
So true. The proliferation of random crosswalks with tiny flashing lights at the side of the road are problematic. Drivers are already on signage overload and these random crossing points which embolden pedestrians to simply walk into the street regardless of the traffic situation is a failure in considering and understanding consequences. Needing to slam on the breaks (with a stream of cars behind you) may enable the pedestrian to walk whenever the whim strikes him but could endanger several drivers who have no way to anticipate the action of the car in front of them.
The arrogance of drivers has gotten far worse in recent years. I used to see an occasional driver run a stop sign. Now I’d say that at least 30% of drivers slow down and do a “rolling stop” through stop signs. Maybe 5% just slow down slightly (maybe looking one way) and then drive straight through. Pedestrian deaths will continue to rise if people think that their time is TOO important and stop signs are just there for everyone else or just to make them late. On a similar note, how much time does one save by tailgating me? [Note: I don’t drive slowly.]
Obviously, poor driving habits contribute to more pedestrians getting hit. However, I believe anyone who drives will agree that pedestrians do not look out for themselves.
People rarely stop and look both ways, on streets as well as parking lots.
Pedestrians have the legal right of way in many instances but the average person doesn’t know this and assumes they are free to go and it on the motorist to look out for them.
In my generation, these rules were taught in grade school. I don’t believe it is included anymore and these simple rules are not being taught.
Melaine, you nailed it on the head.
Totally agree
I know there are pedestrians who don’t seem to understand that when they have a Don’t Walk sign that the do not have the right of way. I see people cross against the light all the time. The pedestrians get pissed at the drivers and I am sure the drivers spend a few seconds getting over the shock of a near miss.
What about the “phone zombies”? People staring at their phones instead of looking around to see if a car is coming. Especially at crosswalks where they think they are safe?
What about the “phone zombies”? People staring at their phones instead of looking around to see if a car is coming. Especially at crosswalks where they think they are safe?
that’s exactly what I came on to say.. I’m surprised that the article didn’t mention for people to stay off their darn phones
I agree you have people crossing the road looking at their cell phone, not looking for vehicles these people are irresponsible. This article is totally wrong, people are j walking all over the place. Pedestrians think the roads are sidewalks. I think they should stop blaming the drivers and start looking at pedestrians irresponsibility to not observe upcoming traffic.
I THINK THE REPLACMENT OF CONVETIONAL STREET LAMPS WITH LED’S HAS LED TO LESS LIGHTING ON THE ROADS. THE TOWN I JUST MOVED BACK TO AFTER TWENTY YEARS REPLACED THE THE LIGHTS WITH LED’S. THE SAME ROAD I DROVE TWENTY YEARS A GO I BELIEVE IS DARKER, MY HIGH BEAMS COME NOW WHERE THE DIDN’T 20 YEARS AGO.
In general, the LED streetlights are much brighter than the old incandescent / sodium vapor lights. Anyone who likes to stargaze will tell you this, the stars have disappeared from the skies because the streetlights are so bright, the light bounces off the ground and makes the sky washed out. Perhaps your town is different. Also, with all the bright streetlights, the spaces between are in deeper shadow, and car headlights are much brighter and more blinding too, making it hard to see.