Pedestrian Traffic Fatalities Decrease In Alabama

BIRMINGHAM, AL — Perhaps due to the fewer number of cars on the road amid the coronavirus pandemic, Alabama saw a significant decrease in the number of pedestrian traffic fatalities in 2020, according to a recent study.

Alabama's number of pedestrian traffic deaths dropped by 19 percent compared to the state's 2019 totals.

The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) released its Pedestrian Traffic Fatalities by State report this week. In an addendum, the association noted that 2020 may have had the largest increase in pedestrian deaths in years.

"Last year was filled with so much death and loss as COVID swept across the country. As America gets vaccinated and returns to normal, we need to treat pedestrian safety like the public health emergency that it is," said Association Executive Director Jonathan Adkins. "We must strengthen our efforts to protect those on foot from traffic violence by implementing equitable and proven countermeasures that protect people walking and address those driving behaviors that pose the greatest risk."

Nationally, 6,271 pedestrian traffic deaths were reported in 2020, the association projected. That's a 4.8 percent increase versus 2019. With 13 percent less traffic on roadways due to pandemic-related shutdowns, the U.S.'s pedestrian fatality rate saw a 21 percent increase from 2019, the report said.

If it holds, that would be the largest increase year-to-year since at least 1975, when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Fatality Analysis Reporting System.

"The increase in pedestrian fatalities, especially against the backdrop of large, pandemic-related declines in motor vehicle travel, is especially concerning," said Richard Retting of Sam Schwartz Consulting, who conducted the data analysis for the report. "We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to these unacceptable numbers of pedestrian deaths."

The full report can be found online at the Governors Highway Safety Association website.