A Closer Look At Pedestrian Safety
1A
NPR
4.3 • 4.5K Ratings
🗓️ 15 February 2023
⏱️ 30 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Data from the Governors Highway Safety Association estimates that drivers hit and killed more than 7,000 pedestrians in 2021, an average of 20 deaths per day.
While data from 2022 isn't out yet, estimates indicate that the pedestrian safety crisis has only worsened.
To help address the surge, the U.S. Department of Transportation released $800 million dollars in grants as a part of its Safe Streets for All program in February.
We discuss the impact this federal investment will have on traffic deaths and how we can make communities safer for pedestrians.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The first six months of 2021 saw the largest six month jump in traffic fatalities on record. |
| 0:29.3 | From 18.4% from the same period in 2020, I'll all told that's more than 20,000 people who died. |
| 0:37.8 | Together with the numbers from 2020, this is a really alarming trend line, particularly since |
| 0:43.0 | traffic deaths have largely been on the decline prior to the pandemic. But when you break it out into |
| 0:48.5 | specific categories, you really see that certain types of road users are particularly affected. |
| 0:53.6 | Pedestrians, they are the perhaps most vulnerable road user group of all cyclists as well. |
| 1:00.8 | And then also when we break this data down by race, we see that people of color are disproportionately |
| 1:06.1 | affected by traffic violence. Compared to 2019, drivers killed 23% more black Americans and 11% |
| 1:14.4 | were Native Americans that they did in 2020 compared to just a 4% increase for white Americans. |
| 1:19.8 | Since that show, the pedestrian safety crisis has worsened nationally. Preliminary estimates from |
| 1:26.1 | the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show that fatalities among pedestrians in the first |
| 1:31.6 | half of 2022 increased 2% compared to the same period in 2021. Earlier this month, the U.S. Department |
| 1:39.8 | of Transportation announced $800 million in grants as part of its Safe Streets for all program. |
| 1:45.8 | It will fund more than 500 projects across the country that aim to improve roadway infrastructure. |
| 1:51.2 | And while these programs address all traffic fatalities, today we're focusing on pedestrian deaths. |
| 1:56.3 | The program is set to disperse $5 billion in appropriated funds over the next 5 years. |
| 2:01.4 | So what impact will this federal investment have on pedestrian deaths? And how can we make |
| 2:05.5 | community safer for pedestrians? We'll answer those questions and get into so much more after the |
| 2:10.3 | break. I'm Jen White. You're listening to the 1A podcast where we get to the heart of the story. |
| 2:15.7 | Remember, you can join us for future conversations. Just download the 1A Vox Pop app and leave us a message. |
| 2:27.1 | Let's get into it. Joining us from New York is Jenny O'Connell. She's the senior program manager |
| 2:32.0 | of Safety at the National Association of City Transportation Officials. Jenny, it's great to have |
... |
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