Pedestrian fatalities in the U.S. rose 80 percent in the past 15 years after reaching a historic low in 2009. Now, new research highlights the increase has almost entirely occurred on urban arterial roads and after dark, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.

Busy city roads are typically built to quickly move a lot of traffic between metropolitan areas while still allowing access to local streets. As a result, pedestrians and vehicles often share congested roads that are not always well-lit or have appropriate sidewalks, crosswalks or traffic signals.

Researchers examined the cities of Albuquerque, New Mexico; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Memphis, Tennessee and found:

• Most pedestrian fatalities occurred well outside of downtown, with more than half more than 4 miles from the city center.
• Most of the pedestrian fatalities occurred on arterial roads, and about half occurred in darkness.
• Injuries and deaths occurred disproportionately in socially and economically disadvantaged neighborhoods and areas with older housing.
• Cities face challenges in improving pedestrian safety, including high costs for infrastructure upgrades, barriers to implementing changes on state-controlled roads and public resistance to change.

“The continued rise in pedestrian fatalities in the U.S. since 2010 is a traffic safety challenge we need to address,” said Dr. David Yang, president and executive director of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. “This study not only identified common underlying factors related to pedestrian deaths but opportunities where stakeholders can collaborate to make improvements in their communities. We need to work together to create safer transportation systems for pedestrians and other road users.”

AAA Foundation partnered with researchers from the Collaborative Sciences Center for Road Safety to study the issue by performing case studies in three cities with varying levels and trends in pedestrian fatalities.

In the cities examined, the researchers found that a large majority of pedestrian fatalities occurred on busy city roads at night, mirroring national trends.

Researchers uncovered that a disproportionate number of these pedestrian deaths occurred in socially and economically disadvantaged neighborhoods.

Many residents in these areas depend heavily on walking, especially to reach public transportation.

Cities continue to grapple with several challenges when it comes to implementing the necessary infrastructure upgrades needed to make roads safer in these communities.

AAA recommends city planners, public health professionals, legislators, and traffic safety practitioners to work together to reverse these deadly trends.

The study also identified several interconnected factors, including a lack of safe crossing locations, high pedestrian crossing volumes, poorly lit roads without continuous sidewalks and questions over road ownership (state versus local) and policy challenges.

“Reducing the spike in pedestrian deaths requires data-driven investments where they matter most,” said Jake Nelson, AAA’s director of traffic safety advocacy. “If safety is truly a top priority for decision-makers, we should expect greater investments in historically underinvested communities where a disproportionate number of pedestrians are hit and killed.”

To enhance pedestrian safety and reduce fatalities, AAA suggests several key steps:

• Investing in the areas and solutions that will make the biggest impact. That means targeting unsafe locations outside downtown areas, often in socially and economically disadvantaged neighborhoods.
• State and local governments can work more closely to invest resources to save lives where needed most, regardless of who owns that roadway.
• A Safe System approach anticipates human mistakes and reduces crash severity by addressing safety holistically through safer roads, vehicles, speeds and road users.