A new report from the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) shows a 23.44% increase in pedestrian fatalities resulting from being struck and killed by motorist in Ohio in just the first half of 2021. The same report shows that pedestrian fatalities have increased by 24% since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
That increase places Ohio 8th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia in terms of the number of fatalities which occurred in that time period.
Image via GHSA
The report, Spotlight on Highway Safety: Pedestrian Traffic Fatalities by State, is noteworthy because it provides a preliminary analysis of the fatality trends ahead of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) releases official data, and presents individual state data, projected pedestrian fatality rates per population, and vehicle miles traveled. The report shows that nationally, there was a 17% increase nationally in pedestrians being struck and killed by motorists in the first six months of 2021.
Focus on Ohio
The increase in fatalities for the first six months of 2021 follows the trend that began in 2020, which saw a spike in pedestrian fatalities after two previous years of decline, according to preliminary figures released last fall by the NHTSA. That data showed that Ohio saw a 24.19% increase in fatalities year over year, with an increase of 30 pedestrians killed on Ohio’s roadways that year.
For the 11 years between 2010 and 2020, 1,279 Ohio pedestrians lost their lives as a result of being struck by a motor vehicle. That averages out to a rate of 116.27 per year, or 0.98 per 100,000 residents. On average, year over year, an additional 5.54 Ohioans are stuck and killed each year while walking on or near Ohio’s roadways.
State Pedestrian Fatality Rates - Ohio
The preliminary data provided by GHSA shows that the first six months saw a significant increase in the number of fatalities per 100,000 residents when compared to the same period in 2020. According to that data, from January-June 2020, the fatalities per 100K were 0.54, while in January-June 2021, the fatalities per 100K were 0.67.
National Statistics on the Rise
Among the figures compiled by GHSA that is most concerning has been the significant increase in pedestrian fatalities in relation to the number of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) over the past two years. The report compares the number of vehicle miles traveled (1.5 trillion VMT according to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)) compared to the total number of pedestrian fatalities on the nation’s roadways during that same time period (3,441). This works out to a rate of 2.3 pedestrian fatalities per billion VMT from January-June 2021, up just slightly from the same time period in 2020, and significantly higher than the preceding three years where the average fatalities per 1 billion VMT was 1.8.
Image via GHSA
What Steps Can We Take
Nearly one out of every 10 households in Ohio does not have access to a motor vehicle, meaning walking and biking options are necessary. Bicyclists and pedestrians make up 14% of all roadway fatalities in Ohio.
That is why GOPC has advocated for the establishment of a statewide active transportation policy that ensures the state’s roadways can safety accommodate all types of users and is sensitive to local context, facilitating the safe and efficient movement of people, goods, and services.
2021 saw the release of the Walk.Bike.Ohio Statewide Bike and Pedestrian Plan, Ohio’s first statewide active transportation plan (which GOPC served as a member of the steering committee and currently serves as a member of the implementation advisory committee). This plan will help to guide investment in, and creation of, shared roadways that make it safe for all users to access Ohio’s roadways and create opportunities for transit-oriented development. However, it is up to the state and local governments to take the recommendations of Walk.Bike.Ohio (along with the newly released Multimodal Design Guide) to invest in the actual infrastructure and to implement the necessary policy and legal changes (as well as to ensure existing laws are being enforced) which will help to make meaningful changes that will improve safety and save lives.