Why Pedestrian Deaths Continue to Rise in the U.S.

Vision Zero is based on a simple but ambitious goal: no one should be killed or seriously injured in the transportation system. Yet in the United States, progress has stalled, with roughly 40,000 traffic deaths each year since 2000. While overall fatalities have remained flat, pedestrian and bicyclist deaths have risen sharply – by 68% – now accounting for about 1 in 5 traffic deaths and posing a far higher risk per mile traveled than driving.

To better understand why, FAU researchers examined 222 miles of arterial roads across the Miami, Orlando and Tampa regions. Using crash data from the Florida Department of Transportation and satellite imagery, they analyzed 10 major urban corridors, separating conditions at 334 roadway segments and 489 signalized intersections. Their findings, published in the Journal of the American Planning Association, show that land use decisions – specifically placing everyday destinations like grocery stores, pharmacies and fast-food restaurants along high-speed arterial roads – significantly increase risks for pedestrians and cyclists. The study suggests that reducing fatalities will require not only safer street design, but also fundamental changes in how communities decide where development occurs.

“Meaningful progress toward Vision Zero requires recognizing that land use decisions are a key driver of pedestrian and bicyclist risk,” said Eric Dumbaugh, Ph.D., senior author and a professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning within FAU’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. “When everyday destinations are placed along high-speed arterial roads, they create avoidable exposure to danger. Addressing this will require rethinking zoning and site design standards and steering high-risk uses away from these corridors before they are built into the landscape.”

Read the press release.