New Study Highlights Factors Causing an Increase in Pedestrian Fatalities

The roads in Texas and across the country are becoming more dangerous every year, especially for pedestrians. A new study released by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety revealed that pedestrian traffic fatalities have increased by more than 80 percent over the past 15 years. Unsurprisingly, almost that entire increase has occurred on urban roads, particularly those connecting metropolitan areas and local streets, and after nightfall. 

Texas consistently ranks as one of the most dangerous states for pedestrians. Smart Growth America, a non-profit organization dedicated to creating safer streets, theorizes that pedestrian safety continues to worsen because American streets are designed primarily to move cars quickly at the expense of safety. Their 2024 report, “Dangerous By Design,” ranked Texas as the 11th most deadly state for pedestrians, tied with Tennessee. 

Other alarming statistics include:

• Pedestrian deaths on metropolitan streets have increased by 75 percent since 2010
• Pedestrians account for 1 in 6 traffic deaths in Texas
• 54 percent of pedestrian deaths occur on just 20 percent of the nation’s roads (those owned by states)
• Texas had 2,791 pedestrian deaths from 2013-2017 and 3,567 from 2018-2022
• Texas pedestrian traffic deaths increased 22 percent from 2019 to 2023
• Dallas saw 467 pedestrian-related crashes, 51 of which were fatal, in 2024 alone

What these numbers reveal is that your chances of being struck by a vehicle when you’re walking on Texas roads are getting higher every year. Let’s look into some of the reasons why this problem just seems to get worse.

Why Pedestrian Deaths Are Increasing

One large reason that pedestrian deaths are on the rise, the AAA study found, is that a disproportionate amount of pedestrian deaths occur in economically and socially disadvantaged neighborhoods. Many residents in those areas don’t have easy access to a car or public transportation, forcing them to walk everywhere. The roads they must use are highly congested and lack essential infrastructure like sidewalks, crosswalks, traffic signals, and adequate lighting, creating a dangerous recipe for pedestrian-related car accidents.

Pedestrians and drivers alike engage in behaviors that put on-foot travelers (and cyclists) at risk. Risky pedestrian behaviors include failing to yield the right-of-way to cars, ignoring traffic signals, not using crosswalks, using phones or being distracted while walking, not wearing reflective clothing at night, and crossing the street without looking both ways or making eye contact with drivers. 

Careless drivers, on the other hand, are the largest contributor to pedestrian deaths, engaging in behaviors such as failing to respond to traffic signals or yield the right-of-way to pedestrians, driving while distracted or sleepy, speeding, and driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The CDC reported that 17 percent of accidents causing a pedestrian fatality involved a driver with a blood alcohol content exceeding the legal limit.

Drivers must remember that pedestrians, not protected by a vehicle, are the most vulnerable users of the road. Always remember to follow speed limits, stay off your phone, stop and yield for pedestrians in crosswalks, and drive only when sober and alert.

Making Texas Streets Safer

The AAA study proposed several ways to increase pedestrian safety. They suggested that data be used to improve infrastructure in the areas that need the most help, such as lower-income neighborhoods. State and local governments can work together to improve conditions, regardless of which entity owns the road. Technology that can anticipate human mistakes should also be utilized wherever possible.

Texas, for its part, is making an effort to increase pedestrian safety throughout the state. Many cities use motion-activated pedestrian hybrid beacons at crosswalks without traffic signals, which trigger warning lights for drivers when pedestrians are about to cross. 

In 2022, Dallas launched its Vision Zero Action Plan, which aims to eliminate traffic fatalities and reduce severe injuries by 50% by the year 2030. This plan, created and used successfully in Sweden since 1997, works to improve infrastructure on streets with the highest rate of crash-related injuries and death. Dallas also implemented a $30-million “Sidewalk Master Plan” that allows city officials to build and maintain safer sidewalks. 

These promising efforts are laudable, but for now, pedestrians in Dallas and beyond remain at high risk. Pedestrians can be severely or permanently disabled in a vehicle-related crash, leaving them saddled with medical bills, the inability to work, expensive rehabilitation, and months or years of physical, mental, and emotional healing.

The Texas personal injury attorneys at The Cochran Firm Texas have decades of experience representing pedestrians harmed by someone else’s negligence. We can build your case, assemble expert testimony, handle all the paperwork, and fight for you at trial if necessary. Call us toll-free at (800) 843-3476, or contact us online for a free, no-obligation case review.