Drivers struck and killed 3,304 people walking in the United States in the first half of 2024, down 2.6% from the year before but up a staggering 48% from 2014.
GHSA's analysis of preliminary data provided by State Highway Safety Offices (SHSOs) found that while pedestrian deaths during the first six months of 2024 fell slightly from the year before, they are 12% higher than 2019 and up a shocking 48% since 2014. Over the last decade, deaths of people on foot have risen at a pace nearly seven times higher than U.S. population growth (7%).
To help address this pedestrian safety crisis, GHSA supports a holistic solution that establishes a multi-layered safety net that can protect everyone on the road. A key part of this safety net is traffic enforcement focused on dangerous driving behaviors – like speeding, and impaired or distracted driving – that put people on foot in danger across the country.
GHSA will publish a second, comprehensive Spotlight report later this year. That report will include state pedestrian fatality projections for all of 2024, an analysis of 2023 data from NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and an overview of proven strategies states and communities are employing to help prevent pedestrian injuries and fatalities.
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