March 3, 2020—The Governors Highway Safety Association projects that 6,590 pedestrians died on or along U.S. roadways in 2019, according to The Detroit Free Press.
The number is 5 percent more than the number of deaths in 2018. If the preliminary 2019 data holds, it means that 57,897 pedestrians died from 2009-19.
The increase of deaths represents a reversal of a trend of declining deaths even as safety for vehicle occupants has improved. Some improvements in automotive safety technology, such as automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, and vehicle designs that limit the potential for injuries to pedestrians could help reduce pedestrian deaths.
