As we’ve mentioned before on the blog, distracted driving is a serious danger to the public, causing countless avoidable accidents, but there can also be a danger when people walk distracted.
Pedestrians are a particularly vulnerable category of road users, with over 4,432 pedestrian fatalities in 2011, which is an 8-percent increase compared to 2009, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. This makes pedestrians one of few groups of road users that have seen an increased number of fatalities in recent years, while the number of in-vehicle casualties has been dropping for the last couple of years. Most of the accidents that result in pedestrian fatalities happen in urban areas, and the vast majority of those fatalities occur in areas that are not designated for pedestrian traffic. The fact that pedestrian deaths are on the rise has motivated the Department of Transportation to ramp up its efforts for improving traffic safety by starting a new safety campaign and providing several cities with grants that will help them tackle this issue.
The Department of Transportation has decided to offer $2 million in grants to cities with the highest pedestrian fatality rates. A total of 22 cities will be able to apply for the grants, and the Department will choose six cities, that are going to split the money between them. The cities that will get the funds, will be able to decide for themselves how they want to use the money. They could choose to upgrade their sidewalk networks, redesign intersections, put more marked crosswalks in place, as well as more regulatory and warning traffic signs, which are some of the most common and effective solutions for improving pedestrian safety. Also, local authorities can use the money for educational purposes, by launching various media campaigns to make drivers pay more attention to pedestrians and drive more carefully at intersections and around crosswalks.
One of the most common causes of pedestrian fatalities in recent years has been texting while walking. It’s a well-known fact that distracted driving is one of the leading causes of car accidents, but not a lot of people know that distracted pedestrians are a very common factor that causes traffic accidents, as well. Each year, hundreds of thousands of pedestrian injuries occur that are result of so-called distracted walking. Many pedestrians text and talk on their cell phones, or listen to music on headphones while walking on sidewalks or while crossing a street. This makes pedestrians less attentive to their surroundings, preventing them from seeing or hearing a vehicle approaching them, which makes them pretty vulnerable.
That is why the Department of Transportation has launched this initiative, that is supposed to make drivers more aware of the dangers of distracted driving, and also raise pedestrians’ awareness of the dangers of distracted walking. Additionally, the Department urges local authorities to step up enforcement on distracted driving laws. Distracted driving has been considered a serious traffic violation for a couple of years now, but that hasn’t been the case with distracted walking. However, as it has become clear that talking on a cell phone or texting while walking puts pedestrians at risk, a couple of cities have started to issue tickets for distracted driving, hoping to improve pedestrian safety.