According to a press release from the Governors Highway Safety Association, “U.S. drivers struck and killed 3,441 pedestrians in the first six months of 2021, up 17% – or 507 additional lives lost – from the same period the year before.”

The analysis found that, nationwide, there were 1.04 pedestrian deaths per 100,000 people, up from 0.90 in both 2020 and 2019. The data also shows that the rate of drivers striking and killing pedestrians rose to 2.3 deaths per billion vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in the first six months of 2021…

GHSA recommends combating this crisis with the Safe Systems approach, which relies on five key elements and which has inspired the Vision Zero movement. ” Each of the five elements of the Safe System approach – safe road users, safe vehicles, safe speeds, safe roads and post-crash care – contribute in different ways to provide this multi-layered safety net that can protect people outside of vehicles.”