Wisconsin Pedestrian Deaths Down 3 Percent In 2020: Report

ACROSS WISCONSIN — Pedestrian traffic deaths were down 3 percent in Wisconsin in 2020 according to a new report released Thursday.

2020 may have seen the largest increase in pedestrian traffic deaths in years, according to an addendum from Pedestrian Traffic Fatalities by State. The report was released by the Governor Highway Safety Association (GHSA) this week. Drunken driving, speeding and distracted driving are likely culprits behind the national spike.

There is some good news in the report. Wisconsin is among those that saw a projected decrease in pedestrian deaths in 2020, or the number of people on foot who were killed by drivers.

Based on preliminary data provided by state highway safety offices, 52 pedestrian deaths were reported in our state in 2020, a 3 percent decrease from 2019.

Nationally, the Governors Highway Safety Association projects there were 6,721 pedestrian fatalities in 2020, a 4.8 percent increase from the 6,412 deaths reported in 2019. It should be noted that the Governors Highway Safety Association adjusted 2020’s total from 6,410 to account for historical differences between preliminary and final numbers.

Another notable finding in the report: Pedestrian deaths increased despite a 13 percent decrease in the number of miles traveled by drivers in 2020.

This means the pedestrian fatality rate in 2020 was 2.3 per billion vehicle miles traveled, a “shocking and unprecedented” 21 percent increase from 1.9 per billion in 2019, the report states.

“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,” Jonathan Adkins, executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Association, said in a news release.

Thursday’s report follows a similar one released in February, in which the Governors Highway Safety Association projected the number of pedestrian deaths for the first six months of 2020. The new report adds preliminary data from the last six months of the year.

Data for the report was provided by state highway safety offices. The numbers are meant to provide an early look at 2020 pedestrian deaths, months before the data is available through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System.

Since the data is preliminary, it may also be incomplete, the report notes.

The projected increase in pedestrian fatalities in 2020 continues a decade-long pattern of rising pedestrian deaths, the report states. In fact, from 2010-2019, pedestrian fatalities increased by 46 percent.