Could the increase of injuries and death of pedestrians be caused, in part, by the inattention of pedestrians? As kids, we were taught to “stop, look and listen” before crossing streets. This was long before skate boards and cell phones. I would like to see parents, the media and schools emphasize this old rule to our younger generations.
More people walking for health & economics the cause? How about people having their noses buried in their “smart” phones and more interactions with crazy cyclists?
What ever happened to personal responsibility? I see pedestrians and bicyclists every day that walk or ride across parking lots or across the entrances to businesses and never look to see if there is a car. Half the time they are on the phone or listening to their music. Remember being told to look both ways before crossing? I guess pedestrians and bicyclists feel they have the right of way and they will sue if they get hurt. Riders of bicycles are supposed to follow the same rules as drivers of vehicles, but don’t.
I’m not sure why this was downvoted so much, well actually I am, but it’s a good point. Since 2009 the number of miles driven in the US has increased a little under 7%, according to the Fed and depending on the exact time frame and about5% has been in the last 2 years. The number of bicyclist deaths has been roughly steady through 2014 but I haven’t seen real 2015 figures yet. More driving could be a major cause as could an increased number of cyclists.
This could really be more of a determinant if driving increased by more in urban areas where people had alternative methods of transportation through public transit, and where there tend to be more accidents than in rural areas because they would start driving more with cheaper gas.
Of course, instead of actually thinking about it, it’s easier for people to blame texters (probably Millenials), bikers who ride through crowded red lights (live in a city, almost never see it actually happen, especially for how much whining about it there is), and, of course, Obama.
No mention of the parking and walking necessary as many downtown areas are converted to ‘pedestrian friendly’. They take away parking and make visitors walk further to get anywhere and raise the cost of parking to pay for the trees and brick paver sidewalks. At least in my town.
Nearly all comments I read had causes that were mentioned in the article. So, not much new thought on the issue thus far.
How many pedestrian deaths were caused by hit & run drivers versus responsible drivers who stopped to assist the injured pedestrian?
I wonder if the increased number of illegal immigrants who can’t read English traffic signs, and have no insurance, caused the 2015 increase?
Obama recently encouraged (for lack of a better word) illegal immigrants to enter the US, in anticipation of amnesty. Would states/ cities with the largest pedestrian fatality/ accident increases also be the same jurisdictions with a large influx of illegal immigrants?
I agree distracted driving and walking contribute to increased frequency. But is it causing greater severity; i.e. deaths? This largest increase in a long while doesn’t seem to be completely explained by the seemingly less large increase of e-com device usage.
There; I said it…. the elephant illegally in the room, politically incorrect remark, to set these comments off onto a politically charged detour. ;)
Good points Yogi. Why don’t we throw in all the dope heads out there who shouldn’t be behind the wheel and the mentally ill people? We have always had drunks causing problems running over pedestrians. We are now adding the others who are doing the same thing. Regarding the illegals, you are right, they don’t understand the laws, can’t read the signs, buy a vehicle for cash and take off in it. We had a case a few years ago where they had an old 1 ton dually truck and had 15 men, women and children in it, had a severe accident where 7 were killed. They couldn’t interview the driver because he didn’t speak English. No Insurance, no License, no problem.
I think a lot of the issues are people are in too much of a hurry. Hardly anyone stops at red lights now when they are turning right. I’ve even seen a school bus do it! Crazy. I watched someone in front of me the other day get a green light and do a wide right turn so that they didn’t have to stop and wait for the pedestrian who was crossing. Really, you couldn’t wait less than 30 seconds for them to get safely by? I caught up with that idiot at the next red light so it’s not like he got anywhere any faster!
And I have seen women putting on their eye makeup while driving. They couldn’t possibly have gotten up a little earlier and did that at home before hitting the road.
Agree. But is that causing an increase in pedestrian fatalities? We’ve been rushing to get to the store, work, and in my case, my secret fishing hole, for decades. Could it be PARTLY due to pedestrian inattention increases due to Zombie-Walking-While-Talking-on-cellphones ? As a quad-ped, I can’t do that, and haven’t had more close calls recently with snowmobiles. :)
It’s probably every factor mentioned above(except lightning)including the fact that roads, sidewalks, and parking lot entrances have become more congested and more complex. In congested areas, we can’t build more roads, we have to increase the number of lanes and stop lights. This makes driving more complex and many drivers (and pedestrians) just don’t handle it well. When I learned to drive, roads were predominantly two lanes. When I taught our daughter to drive, the roads were 4 or 6 lane as soon as we turned out of our neighborhood. Just takes more work and common sense to drive. Which is in short supply in this world of – “it’s not my fault – it’s yours”
Yogi, you hit the nail on the head for the number one cause of pedestrian deaths and injuries. Walk down the street in any big city in America and there are a mass of people walking with that cell stuck to their head or looking down to text while walking. Every other factor pales by comparison.
Actually, dolt, the number one cause of death and injuries for pedestrians is alcohol, not cell phones, Millenials, Chipotle or Obama.
You are wrong on literally everything that can be fact checked. 100% wrong, 100% of the time. You are just totally incapable of participating in reality.
I don’t usually respond to Progressive dolt’s, but in this case, I will make an exception. Check out Chipotle’s, your favorite restaurant. Down another 27% in the most recent quarter after another virus scare in Boston. They are sending out coupons for a free burrito and you should take advantage of it.
March 16, 2016 at 11:46 am
Reason says:
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This is being tremendously over analyzed. The reason is simple; the human race as a whole are dumber than they have ever been. Adults today (35-40+) grew up riding in the back of pick-up trucks, j-walking, and (#gasp) didn’t wear seatbelts; yet we managed to make it. These goobers today pay no attention to anything other than themselves and their stupid cell phone. They have no driving skill nor common sense. This is also the reason for an uptick in pedestrian verses train “accidents”. Not like the train made a sudden turn for crap sake; people are just stupid.
Maybe it is time to thin the mix a bit. Instead of making cars “pedestrian friendly”, Mad MAX those SOBs. Make sure they don’t get up and create a whole new generation of ignorant turds.
Actually a lot of them didn’t make it. The mortality rate for teens has dropped significantly. The train line is even more wrong. According to the Federal Railroad Association the number of collisions and injuries with trains are down about 75 percent and fatalities are down about 65 percent. All with more people, and better record keeping.
You are totally wrong, but I’m sure you and Agent will hit it off bashing young goobers and cell phones with your fake facts.
Austin, Dallas and Houston all had record fatal auto-pedestrian accidents in 2015.
Could the increase of injuries and death of pedestrians be caused, in part, by the inattention of pedestrians? As kids, we were taught to “stop, look and listen” before crossing streets. This was long before skate boards and cell phones. I would like to see parents, the media and schools emphasize this old rule to our younger generations.
Let’s not forget the bikers that fail to yield to traffic signals and vehicles with the right of way.
More people walking for health & economics the cause? How about people having their noses buried in their “smart” phones and more interactions with crazy cyclists?
Correct Dave. Distracted walking, distracted driving, distracted cycling are all good reasons for the problems pedestrians have.
What ever happened to personal responsibility? I see pedestrians and bicyclists every day that walk or ride across parking lots or across the entrances to businesses and never look to see if there is a car. Half the time they are on the phone or listening to their music. Remember being told to look both ways before crossing? I guess pedestrians and bicyclists feel they have the right of way and they will sue if they get hurt. Riders of bicycles are supposed to follow the same rules as drivers of vehicles, but don’t.
I would venture a guess that increased driving due to lower gas prices has made a significant impact on this statistic as well.
I’m not sure why this was downvoted so much, well actually I am, but it’s a good point. Since 2009 the number of miles driven in the US has increased a little under 7%, according to the Fed and depending on the exact time frame and about5% has been in the last 2 years. The number of bicyclist deaths has been roughly steady through 2014 but I haven’t seen real 2015 figures yet. More driving could be a major cause as could an increased number of cyclists.
This could really be more of a determinant if driving increased by more in urban areas where people had alternative methods of transportation through public transit, and where there tend to be more accidents than in rural areas because they would start driving more with cheaper gas.
Of course, instead of actually thinking about it, it’s easier for people to blame texters (probably Millenials), bikers who ride through crowded red lights (live in a city, almost never see it actually happen, especially for how much whining about it there is), and, of course, Obama.
No mention of the parking and walking necessary as many downtown areas are converted to ‘pedestrian friendly’. They take away parking and make visitors walk further to get anywhere and raise the cost of parking to pay for the trees and brick paver sidewalks. At least in my town.
If these areas are pedestrian friendly and are supposed to be safer, why are the deaths on the rise? Are they being struck by lightning?
Nearly all comments I read had causes that were mentioned in the article. So, not much new thought on the issue thus far.
How many pedestrian deaths were caused by hit & run drivers versus responsible drivers who stopped to assist the injured pedestrian?
I wonder if the increased number of illegal immigrants who can’t read English traffic signs, and have no insurance, caused the 2015 increase?
Obama recently encouraged (for lack of a better word) illegal immigrants to enter the US, in anticipation of amnesty. Would states/ cities with the largest pedestrian fatality/ accident increases also be the same jurisdictions with a large influx of illegal immigrants?
I agree distracted driving and walking contribute to increased frequency. But is it causing greater severity; i.e. deaths? This largest increase in a long while doesn’t seem to be completely explained by the seemingly less large increase of e-com device usage.
There; I said it…. the elephant illegally in the room, politically incorrect remark, to set these comments off onto a politically charged detour. ;)
Good points Yogi. Why don’t we throw in all the dope heads out there who shouldn’t be behind the wheel and the mentally ill people? We have always had drunks causing problems running over pedestrians. We are now adding the others who are doing the same thing. Regarding the illegals, you are right, they don’t understand the laws, can’t read the signs, buy a vehicle for cash and take off in it. We had a case a few years ago where they had an old 1 ton dually truck and had 15 men, women and children in it, had a severe accident where 7 were killed. They couldn’t interview the driver because he didn’t speak English. No Insurance, no License, no problem.
We need deep thought: Obama’s recent comments about immigration caused an increase in the past…not to get political.
Pedestrian fatalities are on the rise? Thanks A LOT Obama!
I think a lot of the issues are people are in too much of a hurry. Hardly anyone stops at red lights now when they are turning right. I’ve even seen a school bus do it! Crazy. I watched someone in front of me the other day get a green light and do a wide right turn so that they didn’t have to stop and wait for the pedestrian who was crossing. Really, you couldn’t wait less than 30 seconds for them to get safely by? I caught up with that idiot at the next red light so it’s not like he got anywhere any faster!
And I have seen women putting on their eye makeup while driving. They couldn’t possibly have gotten up a little earlier and did that at home before hitting the road.
In all fairness, I’ve seen men putting on eye makeup while driving, too. Not to mention shaving, eating, changing shirts…
Agree. But is that causing an increase in pedestrian fatalities? We’ve been rushing to get to the store, work, and in my case, my secret fishing hole, for decades. Could it be PARTLY due to pedestrian inattention increases due to Zombie-Walking-While-Talking-on-cellphones ? As a quad-ped, I can’t do that, and haven’t had more close calls recently with snowmobiles. :)
It’s probably every factor mentioned above(except lightning)including the fact that roads, sidewalks, and parking lot entrances have become more congested and more complex. In congested areas, we can’t build more roads, we have to increase the number of lanes and stop lights. This makes driving more complex and many drivers (and pedestrians) just don’t handle it well. When I learned to drive, roads were predominantly two lanes. When I taught our daughter to drive, the roads were 4 or 6 lane as soon as we turned out of our neighborhood. Just takes more work and common sense to drive. Which is in short supply in this world of – “it’s not my fault – it’s yours”
Yogi, you hit the nail on the head for the number one cause of pedestrian deaths and injuries. Walk down the street in any big city in America and there are a mass of people walking with that cell stuck to their head or looking down to text while walking. Every other factor pales by comparison.
Actually, dolt, the number one cause of death and injuries for pedestrians is alcohol, not cell phones, Millenials, Chipotle or Obama.
You are wrong on literally everything that can be fact checked. 100% wrong, 100% of the time. You are just totally incapable of participating in reality.
I don’t usually respond to Progressive dolt’s, but in this case, I will make an exception. Check out Chipotle’s, your favorite restaurant. Down another 27% in the most recent quarter after another virus scare in Boston. They are sending out coupons for a free burrito and you should take advantage of it.
This is being tremendously over analyzed. The reason is simple; the human race as a whole are dumber than they have ever been. Adults today (35-40+) grew up riding in the back of pick-up trucks, j-walking, and (#gasp) didn’t wear seatbelts; yet we managed to make it. These goobers today pay no attention to anything other than themselves and their stupid cell phone. They have no driving skill nor common sense. This is also the reason for an uptick in pedestrian verses train “accidents”. Not like the train made a sudden turn for crap sake; people are just stupid.
Maybe it is time to thin the mix a bit. Instead of making cars “pedestrian friendly”, Mad MAX those SOBs. Make sure they don’t get up and create a whole new generation of ignorant turds.
Reason, correct. Forest Gump said stupid is as stupid does.
Actually a lot of them didn’t make it. The mortality rate for teens has dropped significantly. The train line is even more wrong. According to the Federal Railroad Association the number of collisions and injuries with trains are down about 75 percent and fatalities are down about 65 percent. All with more people, and better record keeping.
You are totally wrong, but I’m sure you and Agent will hit it off bashing young goobers and cell phones with your fake facts.