Pedestrian Deaths Increase
2018-05-10 01:17:24.520146+02 by Dan Lyke 2 comments
Pedestrian deaths up 46 percent since 2009, mostly due to bad design of roads and vehicles. Some interesting points: Higher horsepower to weight ratios are associated with speeding, the switch to SUVs and pickup trucks has put more vehicles with a blunter front end on the road, and, of course, issues with the road design trends towards longer sight lines and wider lanes.
Addendum: Washington Post: Pedestrian deaths soar 46 percent, insurance group finds:
The pedestrian deaths occurred mostly when it was dark and mostly on roads designed to funnel urban or suburban traffic onto freeways, the institute says. The crashes generally occur where there are no intersections or poorly designed crosswalks that tempt pedestrians to dash across multiple lanes of swiftly moving vehicles. The crashes often involved SUVs or vehicles with a lot of horsepower, which suggests that many of the crashes also involved excess speed.
“This analysis tells us that improvements in road design, vehicle design and lighting and speed limit enforcement all have a role to play in addressing the issue,” IIHS President David Harkey said in a statement.
"improvements".