US Traffic Crash Data and What It Means for Pedestrians and Cyclists

Whether you’ve been driving, walking, running or riding a bike, I’m sure you’ve asked yourself the same question many times, “How and why did road traffic get so dangerous so fast?”

Your question is dead-on right and begs urgent action - with data to prove it. At the same time, in fairness regarding that data, answering that question needs some perspective – with a huge negative caveat regarding pedestrian and cyclist injuries and fatalities. Here’s a June 2024 quote from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) regarding US traffic crashes over the past 40 plus years:

The corresponding graph below, also from IIHS, shows that trend with a noticeable uptick from 2019/2020 to 2022, largely attributed to Covid societal effects, which is still better than it was almost 50 years ago.

But here’s the problem regarding pedestrians and cyclists as shown in a time-lapse table from the same IIHS site accompanied with bullets below:

• Though overall traffic crashes in recent years have started to decrease – slightly – pedestrian and cyclist deaths due to traffic crashes are rising. The League of American Bicyclists estimated in late 2024 that 1,149 bicyclists were killed in the US in 2023, which is the highest number ever recorded.
• For pedestrians – all of us are pedestrians – the situation is far bleaker. In 2019, there were 6,205 pedestrian deaths. That number rose to 7,522 in 2022, marking a 21% increase over the three-year period and an 83% increase since the low point in 2009. (IIHS)
• Regarding injuries, in 2022, approximately 67,000 pedestrians and 46,195 bicyclists were injured in motor vehicle crashes. (IIHS)

I recently dialed in this ChatGPT4o query: “Reasons for increased US traffic crashes 2020-2024” and got a bulleted comprehensive response that I’ve limited to just the numbered highlights below:

Here’s what ChatGPT4o provided for solutions:

My takeaway: Clearly the status quo regarding road safety for all road users is unacceptable. But every ChatGPT suggested solution above, and ChatGPT certainly has lots of human company on this, require significant and, at the moment, unrealistically feasible financial investment. I think culture change, though it both requires a lot of energy and is most difficult to achieve for us as a society, is most important to change behavior on our roads for the better and something we can affect by engaging our fellow citizens person-to-person through robust civic, business and community leadership.

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Next post: Breitz! "rubber on road" engagement to help make roads safer for all.