Dangerous by Design 2014 (Smart Growth America)

American communities are poised for a renaissance in walking. We’re walking more often, for fun and to get to places in our neighborhood. Hundreds of cities have adopted Complete Streets policies to ensure walking is in the forefront of our decisions regarding street design.

But we are still dealing with a legacy of roadways that fail to account for the safety of people on foot. In the decade from 2003 through 2012, more than 47,000 people died while walking on our streets. In 2012, pedestrians accounted for nearly 15 percent of all traffic deaths, up 6 percent from 2011 and representing a five-year high.

Dangerous by Design 2014 takes a look at where these fatalities happen and who’s most at risk, presenting data from every county, metro area, and state. The report calls out the unacceptably high number of pedestrian deaths seen in nearly every major metro region, and spotlights the issue of pedestrian safety and the factors that make walking dangerous—and identifies the tools and practices available to put an end to the decades-long neglect of pedestrian safety.

Dangerous by Design Report, Data and Resources