Pedestrian Fatalities Rose Post-Pandemic Lockdown
As lockdowns eased in the second year of the pandemic, the number of people struck and killed by drivers rose in many states, according to a new report by the Governors Highway Safety Association.
GHSA does not track state pedestrian safety laws but does track bicycle helmet laws in states where they have been enacted. Few states have enacted bicycle helmet laws. While GHSA only tracks state laws, many localities require helmet use for some or all bicyclists.
Sources: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and State Highway Safety Offices.
Laws last reviewed by SHSOs in March 2023.
Bicycle helmets required for all riders under 18.
Bicycle helmets required for all riders under 15.
Bicycle helmets required for all riders.
Bicycle helmets required for all riders under 16.
Bicycle helmets required for all riders under 16.
Bicycle helmets required for all riders under 12.
Bicycle helmets required for all riders under 16.
Bicycle helmets required for all riders under 18.
Bicycle helmets required for all riders under 16.
Bicycle helmets required for all riders 1 year or older and under 14. Children under 1 prohibited.
Bicycle helmets required for all riders under 17.
Bicycle helmets required for all riders under 16.
Bicycle helmets required for all riders under 17.
Bicycle helmets required for all riders under 16.
Bicycle helmets required for all riders under 16. $25 fine for a second or subsequent violation.
Bicycle helmets required for all riders under 12.
Bicycle helmets required for all riders under 16.
Bicycle helmets required for all riders.
Bicycle helmets required for all riders under 16.
Bicycle helmets required for all riders under 16.
Bicycle helmets required for all riders under 16.
Bicycle helmets required for all riders under 18.
Bicycle helmets required for all riders under 16.
Bicycle helmets required for all riders under 18.
Bicycle helmets required for all riders under 16.
As lockdowns eased in the second year of the pandemic, the number of people struck and killed by drivers rose in many states, according to a new report by the Governors Highway Safety Association.
Pedestrian deaths have seen a significant increase in the last decade and preliminary data from the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) estimates that the upward trend continued in the first six months of 2021.
Former first round draft pick Dwayne Haskins was trying to cross an interstate by foot in Broward County, Florida, on Saturday morning when he was struck by a dump truck and killed.
A new analysis from the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) projects that U.S. drivers struck and killed 3,441 pedestrians in the first six months of 2021, up 17% – or 507 additional lives lost – from the same period the year before.
A new analysis from the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) projects that U.S. drivers struck and killed 3,441 pedestrians in the first six months of 2021, up 17% – or 507 additional lives lost – from the same period the year before.
The number of U.S. pedestrians killed in motor-vehicle crashes surged 17% in the first half of 2021, according to a nonprofit safety group, which linked the increase to reckless drivers, outdated infrastructure and fewer officers patrolling the roads.
But the pandemic also brought about an increase in reckless driving and, in some places, record numbers of pedestrian deaths. Crashes killed more than 6,700 pedestrians in 2020, up about 5 percent from the estimated 6,412 the year before, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association.
The rise in U.S. road deaths after Covid-19 hit was historic, but it was especially concentrated among certain groups of people, new federal data show.
The Governors Highway Safety Association recently awarded $75,000 in grants to Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania’s State Highway Safety Offices to work with community-based groups to promote safe youth mobility options.
Even though Americans drove less in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, close to 39,000 lives were lost on U.S. roadways in 2020 -- the highest death toll since 2007, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports.