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 (SHSOs).
Laws last reviewed by SHSOs in March 2024.
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.
According to data released Monday from the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), 7,318 American pedestrians were killed by motor vehicles last year -- a dip of 5.4% from 2022 and the first such decline seen since the pandemic ended. But it's no time for celebration: The 2023 number for pedestrian deaths is still 14.1% above pre-pandemic levels.
Story by Ernie Mundell
June 26, 2024
U.S. pedestrian deaths are significantly down for the first time in years — but safety experts aren't popping the Champagne just yet. According to early estimates from a national nonprofit that represents transportation safety offices from all 50 states, U.S. pedestrian deaths fell 5.4 percent between 2022 and 2023. If that number proves accurate when federal officials release their final tallies later this year, it would represent the largest one-year decrease since 2009, and a stunning 419 saved lives.
Pedestrian traffic deaths have fallen for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association. The report showed that pedestrian deaths have been rising since 2019 but decreased for the first time between 2022 and 2023 from 7,700 to 7,300 deaths, a 5.4% decrease. Researchers found that many deaths have occurred at night, where there aren’t sidewalks, and by SUVs and pickups. They also believe the drop in traffic enforcement since 2020 contributed to the previous rising trend.
Michigan lawmakers on Tuesday took steps to impose more stringent penalties on drivers who injure runners, bicyclists and other road users, arguing an extra level of accountability is necessary. A pair of bills passed out of the Michigan House Tuesday with bipartisan support are part of a larger bicameral initiative to give prosecutors new options to charge motorists who hit “vulnerable roadway users.”
The Memphis area is the deadliest metro in the U.S. for pedestrians, but almost all major cities are getting more hazardous for people who are walking, a new study found. More than 80% of the largest 101 metro areas in the country have become more dangerous, according to Smart Growth America, a nonprofit group that promotes alternatives to driving. The worsening trend comes as safety advocates and the federal government have also raised the alarm about a surge in pedestrian deaths.
Dayton, Kentucky is a small and historic community on the Ohio River, across from Cincinnati. Residents often walk and bike for transportation. However, this is risky, as crashes can happen due to inadequate infrastructure and misinformation about road safety.
The Montana Department of Transportation and the Montana Office of Public Instruction were awarded a $50,000 grant to enhance access to hands-on driver training for Montana's tribal youth. The grant, sponsored by the Ford Motor Company and the Governors Highway Safety Association, will fund driver training workshops conducted by OPI's Montana DRIVE program.
The Colorado Office of Transportation Safety partnered with Adelante Community Development, a non-profit organization focused on serving Latino families and entrepreneurs, to recruit and train teens as part of the Traffic Safety Youth Advisory Board. These teens were trained to be ambassadors and educated their peers in Commerce City about pedestrian, bicycle and other safe mobility practices.
Connected Vehicle to Everything (C-V2X). The idea isn't that complicated. Boiled down, it's a chipset that operates on a portion of the cellular bandwidth, and vehicles with this tech embedded (say in an e-bike or car) monitor anything with a C-V2X chip as well as broadcast their own location at a pulse of 10 times a second. This precision location system would then warn a driver of a cyclist on the road ahead, even beyond line of sight, and in an emergency—possibly because a cyclist was right in a car's path—could prevent a collision.
