Researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, (Stimpson, J. ,Wilson,F. and Muellman, R.), released a study, “Fatalities of Pedestrians, Bicycle Riders, and Motorists Due to Distracted Driving Motor Vehicle Crashes in the U.S.”, 2005-2010, the study showed both pedestrian and bicyclist death rates from distracted driving had increased from 2005-2010.
The study, contained in the recent issue of Public Health Reports, concluded that the rate of pedestrian deaths based on vehicle miles travelled (VMT) from 2005-2010 increased from 116.1 to 168.6, and bicyclist death rates from distracted driving crashes increased from 18.7 to 24.6. The upward trend is in contrast to what the authors believe is a relatively stable trend for motorist distracted driving crash deaths. This chart for pedestrian deaths demonstrates the upward trend:
Most pedestrian deaths occurred outside of cross walks (53.7%) and the vast majority of pedestrian deaths occurred in metropolitan areas (82.5%). For bicyclists, the vast majority were male (83.5%) and nearly two-thirds (64.5%) were aged 25-64 years. The authors conclude that pedestrians and bicyclists have little protection on roadways and that policy makers need to address this problem. Potential solutions offered included creating separate bicycle lanes with barriers to separate bicyclists from traffic and clear and lighted crosswalks, solutions needed to be addressed in zoning and redevelopment efforts. It should be noted that the source of the data was the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) which recently was suggested in a National Safety Council White Paper under-reports fatalities with respect to cell phone use by distracted drivers. Thus, these results for pedestrians and bicyclists, may also be under-reported. See https://www.enddd.org/distracted-driving-research/national-safety-councilnationwide-cell-phone-use-underreported/
Joel Feldman
Joel Feldman is the father of the late Casey Feldman and founder of the Casey Feldman Foundation and its sponsored project, EndDD.org. He has been a practicing attorney for 34 years and a shareholder in the law firm of Anapol Weiss in Philadelphia. He received a masters in counseling in 2013 and speaks throughout the U.S. and Canada to teens and adults, changing attitudes and behaviors through the science based, End Distracted Driving program. Joel also provides death notification training to law enforcement and the medical community. Joel can be reached at [email protected]
