Iowa pedestrian deaths down sharply
DES MOINES — While the number is down in Iowa, more than 7,500 pedestrians were killed in the United States last year, a 40-year high. A new report from the Governor’s Highway Safety Association is renewing calls to transform transportation systems in a way that keeps everyone safe.
The number of pedestrian deaths in Iowa dropped from 32 to 18 between 2021 and 2022, a 44% decline. While the issue has the attention of law enforcement and policymakers, the report said the upward trend is still a major issue: pedestrian fatalities increasing by nearly 80% since 2010.
Beth Osborne, vice president for transportation and thriving communities at Smart Growth America, said the United States still hasn’t fully realized the dangerous effects of the interstate highway system.
“And we have taken this very high-speed traffic and put it through places where a driver would need a lot more time to avoid conflict,” she said.
With the growing size of trucks and SUVs, groups such as Osborne’s have been pressuring the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to do more to prioritize pedestrian safety as it updates vehicle safety ratings. In Iowa, 10 cities including three of the biggest — Ames, Des Moines and Davenport — recently received money from the state to focus on reducing pedestrian deaths.
Other states have made improvements, too. Osborne credited Washington state for adopting a law that keeps safety and accessibility in mind for certain road projects.
“They must design any project that costs more than $500,000 as a complete street,” she said, “a roadway built and designed and maintained and operated for all users of the system.”
Osborne urged cities and towns to incorporate safety improvements under their authority and to push policymakers at the state and federal levels to consider changes for roads under those jurisdictions.
