The National Highway Traffic and Safety Committee recently realeased its traffic fatality and injury statistics for 2010. Overall, the number of automobile deaths nation-wide declined in 2010 and was the lowest in nearly 63 years dropping to just 32,855. The number of cyclist related deaths dropped as well from 628 in 2009 to 618 in 2010. That number still is far higher than what should be deemed acceptable, and cyclists deserve safer streets. As those two critical statistics dropped however, there was a spike in pedestrian deaths of 4,109 in 2009 to 4,280 in 2010; an increase of 4.2 percent.
The table shown above shows the fatalities and injuries of ‘pedestrians’ and ‘pedalcyclists’ for the entire United States provided by the National Center for Statistics and Analysis. In 2009, 59,000 pedestrians were injured and in 2010 that number ran up to 70,000 resulting in nearly a 20 percent increase in just a year; a number that is quite alarming. For cyclists, there was no difference between 2009 and 2010 as the number of injuries stayed at 51,000. Still, that number is far too high and cyclists deserve safer roads and better policies.
Looking at New York State alone, the number of total fatalities rose from 1,158 in 2009 to 2,000 people in 2010. That number shows the glaring need to enact policies to better protect pedestrians and cyclists. NYBC support policies, such as Complete Streets, that ensure safer streets for pedestrians and cyclists. Too many people are getting killed and injured as streets are poorly designed and dangerous, and the population both nationally and within New York State deserve better. With an increase in 11,000 pedestrian deaths in just one year, the Senate has been prompted to consider amendments to enact safety requirements to better protect both motorized and non-motorized road users.