Take Steps to Avoid Injury While Walking
It’s the oldest and most basic form of transportation — walking — and more people are doing more of it to get fit or stay healthy. But there’s new evidence today that even walking across the street is getting more dangerous. A report released in March 2017, by the Governors Highway Safety Association shows that the number of pedestrians killed in traffic jumped 11% last year, to nearly 6,000. That’s the biggest single-year increase in pedestrian fatalities ever, and the highest number in more than two decades.
Cell Phone Distraction – Head Up, Phone Down
It has become such a big problem in recent years that reports on unintentional deaths and injuries published by the National Safety Council, introduced a category of statistics on cell phone distracted walking for the first time.
According to those reports, non-vehicular distracted walking incidents show:
- 52% of cell phone distracted walking injuries happen at home
- 68% of those injured are women
- 54% are age 40 or younger
- Nearly 80% of the injuries were due to a fall
The age group most at risk for cell-phone related injuries while walking is adults under 30 — and chiefly those between the ages of 16 and 25, whose injuries ranged from falling off walkways or bridges to walking in front of moving traffic.
The Vehicle Factor
While pedestrian-vehicle injuries are the fifth leading cause of death for children ages 5 to 19, no age group is immune. After speeding and the failure to yield, distractions are the number three cause [of pedestrian fatalities], particularly by electronic devices. Drivers distracted by their devices are a well-documented, rising cause of traffic crashes, but there are also a growing number of pedestrians who became oblivious to traffic around them while distracted by their devices.
Traffic deaths overall went up 6% nationwide in 2016. It stands to reason that pedestrian fatalities would rise as part of that trend, but the rise in pedestrian deaths significantly outpaced other traffic-related fatalities. It’s a “Perfect storm” of factors with busier streets, more cars and pedestrians, along with seeing those drivers and pedestrians primarily staring down at their phones.
While many communities are adding more bike and walk paths, there still is a long way to go. There will always be malls surrounded by parking lots, blind intersections and high traffic areas that will contribute to pedestrian fatalities and injuries.
In the report “Injury Facts 2016”, it showed:
Over 6,100 pedestrians were killed by motor vehicles and 160,000 pedestrian injuries required medical attention
- 23% of deaths and injuries result from pedestrians mistakenly walking into the street
- 74% of pedestrian fatalities happen at night
- 72% of those killed were not crossing at intersections
Another significant distractor is Alcohol
One National report indicated that 15% of pedestrians killed each year are hit by a drunk driver, while 34% of pedestrians killed are legally drunk themselves.
That’s right: 1/3 of pedestrians killed in traffic had a blood-alcohol (BAC) levels above the .08 threshold for drunk driving.