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U.S. Pedestrian Deaths Hit Highest Level in 28 Years

Experts blame new distractions and more SUVs for 35% jump from 2008.

The number of pedestrians killed on U.S. roads last year hit its highest in nearly three decades. The Governors Highway Safety Association estimates that 6,227 pedestrians were killed last year—the most since 1994 and an increase of a massive 35 percent since 2008. Experts have a number of explanations for the jump: more distractions for drivers, more people walking to work, and more SUVs on the road. The association also pointed out that night crashes accounted for more than 90 percent of the increased deaths over the past decade, and urged the introduction of safer road crossings. “While we have made progress reducing fatalities among many other road users in the past decade, pedestrian deaths have risen 35 percent,” Jonathan Adkins, the association’s executive director, said Thursday. “The alarm bells continue to sound on this issue.”