This is a shocking report from Smart Growth America on traffic fatalities in the US. Since 2010, the number of pedestrians struck and killed has increased by almost 75%. As of 2022, this number sat at just over 7,500 fatalities per year:
Here are also the top 20 most deadly metro areas:
Not surprisingly, these hot spots tend to be in the south, as opposed to in older northern cities. And that’s because these tend to be car-oriented places. As the name of the report suggests, they are “dangerous by design.” If you optimize for cars, it means you’re making trade-offs in other places.
Charts: Smart Growth America
2 responses to “Dangerous by design”
It is interesting for me that this seems to be related to city design only by the organization. One of the issues is surely the continuing trend to ever-larger trucks being purchased. Massive trucks with huge blind spots are the number one and two sellers in North America. I am confident that city design is also to blame, but the shockingly steep climb of these numbers must also be attributable to the popularity of these vehicles.
Any similar stats for Canada?