At the close of each year, one annual figure haunts urban planners in America: pedestrian deaths, which have risen sharply in the last decade. A shocking 7,508 pedestrians died in the U.S. in 2022, a 41-year high. This uniquely American trend among high-income countries has perplexed planners, researchers and journalists, including a recent data dive from The New York Times.
Many of the potential causes — the bloated size of modern automobiles, automatic transmissions leaving drivers distracted by touch screens and smartphones, and even long winter nights — seem impossible to reverse, certainly at the local level. But Americans are not without resources. There are multiple pedestrian safeguards that are easily implemented, low cost and backed with strong evidence that they save lives — if we choose to use them.
Nothing is more dangerous for a pedestrian than having their view of oncoming traffic blocked by a car, truck or SUV parked right next to the intersection.
Within cities, a large percentage of pedestrian accidents occur at intersections. Starting with the busiest commercial streets and working outward, “daylighting” intersections — removing curbside parking spaces adjacent to pedestrian crossings — can immediately improve visibility for all travelers. Nothing is more dangerous for a pedestrian than having their view of oncoming traffic blocked by a car, truck or SUV parked right next to the intersection. Too many of us have had to put one step forward and peer around the edge of a car parked right up against a crosswalk in order to see if the coast is clear.
For parents with strollers, older adults and those with limited mobility or impaired vision, these blind spots can be terrifying. Removing those parking spaces also dramatically improves crosswalk visibility for drivers, giving them more time to slow and yield. Daylighting can be accomplished via new signs and pavement markings, as well as by expanding sidewalks at intersections, a…
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