New data shows which states were more deadly for pedestrians in 2023

Preliminary road-safety data for the first half of 2023 has been published.

See full article...

 

[Ushio]

Note that walkable ≠ pedestrians only.

Rather walkable > pedestrians only.

People all over the globe live in walkable areas in the sense that common errands can be done by foot (sometimes bike).

In most cases cars can still drive there, and then of course accidents with pedestrians still happen.

Even so-called pedestrian zones often still allow for trams and thus have a risk of accidents with pedestrians.

The UK has a fifth of the USA's population and pedestrian road deaths for the 12 months ending June 2023 were 395. The US in 6 months has over 8 times the yearly deaths in the UK.

So yes you do still have accidents in more walkable cities and countries but you do have far, far less!

 

[Dr Gitlin]

I mean, the biggest culprit in the Baltimore area is the underground market for VA temp tags, which allow drivers to avoid having to register with the MVA and also avoid having insurance. And then the fact that no traffic laws are being enforced in the city. And the panhandlers and squeegee workers at every intersection walking into traffic. And the crumbling infrastructure...

I've lived in DC since 2009 and learned very early on to give MD plates a very large safety margin on the road. The lawless driving here predates the pandemic by a lot, and is exacerbated by the fact that DC does not attempt to collect road fines from drivers in MD (or VA, but i'm telling you I see fewer dangerously driving VA plates than MD ones).

 

[Demosthenes642]

You should mention how rates of homelessness impact this as well. Reports from Oregon claim that traffic-related fatalities are 45 times more likely in the homeless population.

I'd bet homeless folks spend 45 times more time as pedestrians than your average pedestrian. Was this study normalized for time spent? Homeless also likely spend a lot more time walking at night than your normal pedestrian which is especially dangerous. Not sure what your argument is exactly but changes that benefit pedestrian safety also benefit the homeless.

 

[ColdWetDog]

State level data is absolutely useless in this analysis.

It isn't completely useless, but it is much less useful than say, breakdown by county. Many states are structurally divided - rural / urban, mountain / plain, socioeconomic. It is much harder, and in this case it is possible that incident frequency by county gets so low as to be lose any sort of statistical utility but differentiating only by states doesn't seem like a good choice.

 

[ColdWetDog]

Because Maryland is a joke when it comes to things like driver education, driver licensing, mandating insurance, and so on. You’ll never see more lawless driving in the US than you will around Maryland license plates.

<<Texas enters the chat. Holding their own beer>>

 

[Teom]

I’ve debated getting bumper stickers that say “warning - I stop for stop signs” and “speed limits exist”. The former is especially needed - I nearly get rammed multiple times a day because I have reading comprehension.

You're what I like to call a "traffic calming device". Counter culture work is hard, and you're putting in the work to keep your streets safer. As a bicycle commuter and father I'm glad you're out there.

Side note, I once got honked at for stopping on yellow...

 

[toastie]

Then there’s not even bothering to investigate pedestrian deaths…. (Turn off JavaScript if you get paywalled)

Serious crashes with pedestrians and cyclists often fail to lead to tickets or charges: ‘We can’t be OK with this’

 

[countrygolden]

It's tough to square this with the insistence that the top solution for our transit problems is cars that accelerate much faster and weigh much more...

 

[sbradford26]

You're what I like to call a "traffic calming device". Counter culture work is hard, and you're putting in the work to keep your streets safer. As a bicycle commuter and father I'm glad you're out there.

Side note, I once got honked at for stopping on yellow...

Only once? That is a regular occurrence driving around Southern NH and the Boston area here.

 

[chiasticslide]

I've lived in DC since 2009 and learned very early on to give MD plates a very large safety margin on the road. The lawless driving here predates the pandemic by a lot, and is exacerbated by the fact that DC does not attempt to collect road fines from drivers in MD (or VA, but i'm telling you I see fewer dangerously driving VA plates than MD ones).

Understood. I don't know what's going on with MD drivers, but there is definitely a Mad-Maxian "drive as fast as humanly possible, ignore safety, and screw over other drivers" vibe around here. It's part of our charm.

 

[Snuden]

Ban the car from the inner city.

 

[Teom]

Then there’s not even bothering to investigate pedestrian deaths…. (Turn off JavaScript if you get paywalled)

Serious crashes with pedestrians and cyclists often fail to lead to tickets or charges: ‘We can’t be OK with this’

I once had an opportunity to move to Austin Texas and did some internet sleuthing to see what the bicycle culture was like there. I quickly encountered a joke among the local bicyclists that went something like "if you're going to run a red light, make sure you hit a bicyclist so you don't get a ticket". I did not move to Austin.

 

[Gooner1]

That being said, even existing locations with No Turn on Red signs aren't followed, and there is no enforcement to speak of, so people keep doing it. That being said, I have surprised people who have violated No Turn on Red signs by expressing my opinion by having whatever I have with me strike their vehicle...

Don't forget to come back and tell us when someone surprises you by returning the favour.

 

[Teom]

So.. you're saying we adapted to a new technology ? And that some people were resistant to that change?

Adopting 20mph speed limits and other traffic calming efforts is adapting. And some people are resistant to the change. Same as it ever was.

 

[TheMetalMan]

Right on red rules constantly left me on edge as a pedestrian when I lived in the US. There were so many times on corner crossings where a driver would decide that it was safe to turn, and a little thing like a pedestrian wasn't going to stop them.

I always managed to get out of the way, but it always worried me. After living in Australia and Europe where such "turn on red" rules don't exist, and a green walk indicator seems inviolable, it felt like California really was the wild west as a pedestrian. So, in the end, I found myself driving more if a trip involved too many crossings. Even for trips that were just a mile down the road.

The one time I went to San Francisco (granted this was about ten years ago) I was waiting to cross a side street, and right when the light said it was OK to cross, me and a handful of others starting to cross almost got plowed by a guy in a pickup truck. Another guy kicked the truck's fender as it was passing, leading the driver to stop and it eventually devolved into fisticuffs. At that point I was like "I'm outta here" (not running but looking away and walking briskly) while onlookers were, of course, getting their phones out. Not the best way to experience the urban jungle... Luckily this is the only time I've ever seen this happen in my various travels.

 

[adamsc]

I've lived in DC since 2009 and learned very early on to give MD plates a very large safety margin on the road. The lawless driving here predates the pandemic by a lot, and is exacerbated by the fact that DC does not attempt to collect road fines from drivers in MD (or VA, but i'm telling you I see fewer dangerously driving VA plates than MD ones).

The uncollected ticket stats bear that out, too. I think people sometimes bristle at this as stereotyping an entire state but it makes sense from the perspective of what the worst drivers learn: most people in Maryland aren’t maniacs but the aggressive ones have learned that DC won’t enforce anything unless they hit someone. The same applies to bad drivers from Virginia as well, but they at least have some enforcement at home - I’ve been driving in the DMV area for roughly 15 years and have seen no evidence of traffic enforcement in Maryland, whereas Virginia is pretty notorious for treating speed limits as more than a suggestion.

 

[rosen380]

I'd probably be in the first batch of locals because a lot of people seriously think DC is tiny and you can go across the entire mall in like... five minutes but it's a 2 mile long stretch. You're in for a haul if you want to go that far. If you'd then clarified you're in for the hike I'd be more apt to tell you.

I guess my view would be that the OP is describing what would amount to about 2 hours of walking and said that they had a "few" hours to kill (which I'd consider three hours and maybe four at the very most).

I guess if you only intend to stop for a few minutes at each of the Lincoln Memorial and White House it is doable, but many people would end up spending a bit more time at each location likely making a "few" hours not enough.

And then along the way between the stops they mentioned, you have the Washington Monument, WWII, Vietnam and Korean War Memorials, the sculpture garden, Floral Library (I guess depending on the season ), etc. Unless you are dead focused on your two stops and walk past all of these (and others), a few hours probably really doesn't cover it.

 

[Edgar Allan Esquire]

I've nearly been hit multiple times walking through signaled crosswalks with a common issue being the intersection's turn arrow and walk indicator being able to both fire at the same time which seems crazy. I now walk a block down the less trafficked cross streets and use unsignalled crosswalks that are ironically safer. Has a side bonus that it helps keep my heartrate up since I'm not idling at a light.

Surveillance state aside, reckless traffic issues are things I'd smack a snitch button on dashcam footage if I could without any feelings of guilt.

 

[thrillgore]

I swear if aliens did show up here, they'd think cars were the dominant species. Heck they could be forgiven for thinking so when one of the biggest movie franchises involves living car-people.

And this post was made twice already auuugh
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFaHArkYLsM

 

[Emon]

You've misunderstood much there. Firstly, I never suggested banning the automobile

A lot of people take any suggestions of "let's make cities walkable and don't design them entirely around cars" to literally mean "ban all cars everywhere."

Too many people in this country have driving as a core part of their personality. You even begin to criticize something and they'll say you hate cars and blah blah blah.

Just like how, if someone starts pointing out the ethical or environmental issues with factory farming, someone will jump to conclusions and go "OH WHAT WE SHOULD BAN MEAT AND ALL BE VEGAN" even if no one said anything remotely like that.

 

[Emon]

I'd rather listen to professional engineers than random youtubers on the subject, thanks..

You do realize there are professional engineers on YouTube, right?

The fact that you didn't even click the links and watch them means you're simply afraid of what's in them. You know you're making bad arguments and your pissy attitude is how you're dealing with the cognitive dissonance.

Grow the fuck up and watch the videos you coward.

 

[gijames1225]

Some day we’ll make it friendly and comfortable to be outside a car in the US. The number of cities where you can comfortably live without a car I can count on 2 hands: DC, SF, Boston, NYC, Seattle, and Chicago. Nothing else even comes close which is a terrible shame. No wonder pedestrian deaths are so high.

This is hyperbole. I live in Lancaster, OH (population around 40k) and while owning a car (and managing not to hate it) I bike all over the city for groceries, getting food to go, swinging by the library, visiting friends, grabbing coffee, etc and it works fine. During some dire years where I had less money and very unreliable transport, we went spans of time without a running car and just relied on walking and bikes and stuff.

Sure, some cities are just impossible to functionally bike in, but the US is rife with plenty of 'not-Manhattan' cities that are bikeable (and I've stayed extended periods of time in Manhattan so it's not like I haven't experience living completely without a car), but anti-car people just don't like the fact that plenty of people live in bikeable locations but prefer to drive cars, even for things they can easily bike to.

 

[Maiar]

The uncollected ticket stats bear that out, too. I think people sometimes bristle at this as stereotyping an entire state but it makes sense from the perspective of what the worst drivers learn: most people in Maryland aren’t maniacs but the aggressive ones have learned that DC won’t enforce anything unless they hit someone. The same applies to bad drivers from Virginia as well, but they at least have some enforcement at home - I’ve been driving in the DMV area for roughly 15 years and have seen no evidence of traffic enforcement in Maryland, whereas Virginia is pretty notorious for treating speed limits as more than a suggestion.

Yea Virginia can be a bit draconian with traffic enforcement, which is a good thing. Driving more than 20 over the speed limit get you a Reckless Driving citation which will be up to a $2500 fine, a Class One Misdemeanor, can get your vehicle impounded, and up to 12 months of jail time.

https://www.susanallenlaw.com/blog/2020/03/whats-the-big-deal-about-reckless-driving/

 

[Dr Gitlin]

Understood. I don't know what's going on with MD drivers, but there is definitely a Mad-Maxian "drive as fast as humanly possible, ignore safety, and screw over other drivers" vibe around here. It's part of our charm.

The way they frequently run red lights, always ignore no left turn signs, and quite often drive on the hard shoulder when it's busy literally infuriate me.

 

[Dr Gitlin]

The uncollected ticket stats bear that out, too. I think people sometimes bristle at this as stereotyping an entire state but it makes sense from the perspective of what the worst drivers learn: most people in Maryland aren’t maniacs but the aggressive ones have learned that DC won’t enforce anything unless they hit someone. The same applies to bad drivers from Virginia as well, but they at least have some enforcement at home - I’ve been driving in the DMV area for roughly 15 years and have seen no evidence of traffic enforcement in Maryland, whereas Virginia is pretty notorious for treating speed limits as more than a suggestion.

It's going to be great when they don't enforce the ban on turning right on red starting next year.

 

[clackerd]

As someone who rides at least a couple times per week, this stuff is always in the back of my mind. Stay safe out there.

I can see Idaho spiking if only because of the influx of new people there.

 

[rodrigoi]

Some day we’ll make it friendly and comfortable to be outside a car in the US. The number of cities where you can comfortably live without a car I can count on 2 hands: DC, SF, Boston, NYC, Seattle, and Chicago

DC has traditionally been a fairly dangerous place to walk -- there's still insanely high traffic, weird and inconsistent signage, a huge population of drivers from other states and countries, asshole bikers, and a pedestrian attitude that varies between 'cavalier' and 'suicidal'.

And it's only 'friendly and comfortable' without a car if you have the money to afford the premium of living near a Metro stop, have a job that doesn't require you to be in the office on time (or at all), or you don't mind sacrificing a lot of extra time to take the bus (not to mention, it's the bus).

Granted, it's not to terribly 'friendly and comforable' with a car, either, given the traffic, parking, etc. But I wouldn't hold DC up as some sort of transit utopia.

(source: car-less in DC since '91)

 

[ZippyPeanut]

You're what I like to call a "traffic calming device". Counter culture work is hard, and you're putting in the work to keep your streets safer. As a bicycle commuter and father I'm glad you're out there.

Side note, I once got honked at for stopping on yellow...

Well of course you got honked at for stopping on yellow! Yellow means floor it!

 

[wrylachlan]

Right on red being legal by default was passed as a fuel savings measure in the US decades ago. It does make sense from a waste less gas waiting on a green standpoint but it makes crossing on foot worse as the driver is looking the wrong way to see someone crossing in front of the vehicle.

My city has explicit ‘no right turn’ signs that only light up when the pedestrian walk sign is on. So when it’s the other direction’s green but no one is coming, you can make a right turn on red (the pedestrian has a do not walk at that point). But when all directions are red and the walk signal is on, you can’t take a right on red.

Seems to work well to me.

 

[Mr_Spock]

You're what I like to call a "traffic calming device". Counter culture work is hard, and you're putting in the work to keep your streets safer. As a bicycle commuter and father I'm glad you're out there.

Side note, I once got honked at for stopping on yellow...

I don’t know where you’re at, but the Baltimore-Washington Parkway (MD 295) does not allow trucks and therefore has no traffic calming.

I didn’t know my old Camry could go sixty in second gear until attempting to merge on that hellscape of a highway. I’d rather take I-95 with its constant headaches than the insanity of MD 295.

 

[poink]

I swear if aliens did show up here, they'd think cars were the dominant species. Heck they could be forgiven for thinking so when one of the biggest movie franchises involves living car-people.

That's exactly the premise of a 1966 cartoon from the NFB.ca callled "What on Earth!"

 

[adamsc]

Too many people in this country have driving as a core part of their personality. You even begin to criticize something and they'll say you hate cars and blah blah blah.

One especially weird part about this is that they’re often seeing some of the most negative impacts. I’ve known people who spent multiple hours per day sitting in traffic but insisted it was faster and they’d never ride the train. Some of that was health-related reinforcement (spending most of their life sitting meant walking was daunting, and several people had been in car accidents which had caused back problems) but the strongest theme was fear of others: people who drive don’t talk with anyone other than the person at the drive-thru window and they’re susceptible to the messages on talk radio. The level of perceived crime and unpleasantness on transit, for example, is heavily talked up among people who don’t use it and that’s encouraged for political reasons so it’s not easy to correct. Most of the serious crime around where I live has involved cars – nobody thinks the bus driver is going to help them flee the police! – but the rhetoric is completely the opposite because few of the tough on crime guys want enforcement for the laws they personally break.

 

[ZippyPeanut]

Understood. I don't know what's going on with MD drivers, but there is definitely a Mad-Maxian "drive as fast as humanly possible, ignore safety, and screw over other drivers" vibe around here. It's part of our charm.

I do not know about the whole state of Maryland, but I have had the misfortune of spending time in the cold, hard, aggressive, sketchy, Mad-Maxian dystopia known as Baltimore--a place where Mad Max himself would drive as fast as possible to escape.

If you notice a lot of Maryland drivers driving aggressively, recklessly, and lawlessly, it's not a stretch of the imagination to assume they're from Baltimore. Aggressive, reckless, and lawless is a lifestyle in Baltimore.

 

[Dark Jaguar]

Not watching a video that starts with the guy talking about some shitty "sponsor". Fuck that shit.

I'm aware of the general story.
So.. you're saying we adapted to a new technology ? And that some people were resistant to that change? I'm shocked, shocked..

I'd rather listen to professional engineers than random youtubers on the subject, thanks..


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lITBGjNEp08

I provided what you could use to educate yourself, and you rejected it out of hand, because the first one had an ad sponser (that is easily skipped) and the second one wasn't literally a road design engineer, and you made it clear you didn't watch either video. So no, your synopsis isn't accurate, because of course it wouldn't be, would it?

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink...

 

[zman54]

As an aside...I do infographics, and that initial graphic kinda irks me. The states where deaths increased should be in red, not blue. A quick cursory glance at the red/blue graphic would lead most people to assume the death rate stats were the opposite of what they actually are. That’s just basic color psychology, red=bad.

The colors they chose might have been deliberate. There is also another color that needs to be chosen.

• Red and blue is associated with politics (especially, regarding states).
• Using red with a color other than blue might encourage the political association. (Sure blue has a similar association but it might be weaker.)
• Red is associated with “bad” (as you said) and green is associated with “good”, but green states might not really be good (enough).

 

[Dark Jaguar]

The colors they chose might have been deliberate.

Red and blue is associated with politics.
Red and green is associated with “worse” and “good”, but green states might not really be good (enough).

Oh, oh I can relate this to traffic twiceways around! Turns out, the green color of road signs was picked due to the engineer who set the standard being partially color blind. It's not as visible to most drivers as other colors would have been.

 

[Gooner1]

I mean, the biggest culprit in the Baltimore area is the underground market for VA temp tags, which allow drivers to avoid having to register with the MVA and also avoid having insurance. And then the fact that no traffic laws are being enforced in the city. And the panhandlers and squeegee workers at every intersection walking into traffic. And the crumbling infrastructure...

Which appears to be down to politicians who are either incompetent or corrupt or, in Baltimore's case... incompetent at being corrupt.

 

[cyberpenguin]

You should mention how rates of homelessness impact this as well. Reports from Oregon claim that traffic-related fatalities are 45 times more likely in the homeless population.

Albuquerque, New Mexico also has similar statistics, and it isn't due to the general population of people experiencing housing issues. Fentanyl addiction is a severe challenge and the issues are directly correlated to the regions of the larger campsites of unhoused fentanyl addicts. Closing the sites such as infamous Coronado Park, significantly increased social service outreach, or housing first programs have not yielded any results.

Major corridors such as Central from Eubank to Tramway have been reduced from seven lane roads (3 each side + center turn) to 5 lane roads with the lanes against the sidewalks used as buffers for the pedestrian traffic that wanders into the roadway, but with limited success. A new ordnance that limits solicitation on street medians less than 4 feet wide in high risk pedestrian areas is not regularly enforced due to constraints on APD's resources.

Another significant challenge in Albuquerque has been the increase of extreme street racing (120mph+ in 35mph high population areas). There are 20 new speed cameras, but have had limited success. APD and the DA's office have had significant challenges responding to major crimes and traffic enforcement is lower priority.

These are hard problems to solve.

 

[J.R.G]

I've lived in DC since 2009 and learned very early on to give MD plates a very large safety margin on the road. The lawless driving here predates the pandemic by a lot, and is exacerbated by the fact that DC does not attempt to collect road fines from drivers in MD (or VA, but i'm telling you I see fewer dangerously driving VA plates than MD ones).

I live in central NY and, before retirement, used to drive a lot of miles on I-81 and on the NYS Thruway. I quickly learned to be very careful of vehicles with MD plates --- and that learning was purely on the basis of the behavior of the folk at the helm of such vehicles.