- American pedestrian deaths are on the rise. Despite global smartphone use, only the US has seen a significant increase in the death rate.
- Declines were seen in Europe and Japan. Despite the adoption of similar technology, roads in these areas remain safe.
- Distracted driving isn’t the only cause. The data suggests that other factors contribute to America’s unique issue.
- Global comparisons highlight the problem. Countries like Canada and Australia do not reflect American trends.
Ground level: America’s pedestrian safety crisis is unique; smartphone use alone is not the cause of rising deaths.
AI assisted, editor reviewed
more recently, new York Times Published a damning study about America’s growing pedestrian safety crisis. You may have seen our coverage; You may have read about it somewhere else. Perhaps you are one of many people with particularly strong opinions on this topic. We’ve certainly heard a fair amount from you. As I write this, there are over 260 comments and counting on that story on our site alone.
And many of them say a variation of the same thing: “It’s the cell phone, stupid!”
However, is this so? Look, this is a perfectly reasonable argument at face value. The iPhone was introduced in 2007; Pedestrian deaths in the United States began to increase about two years later and peaked during the pandemic. I understood; Most of those times I was on my phone.
There is also data to support this common sense claim. Some type of Redditor went so far as to overlay charts of pedestrian deaths, vehicle weight, and US cell phone adoption All in one convenient visualization. And all this will be beautifully checked, if not for one small mistake: they have cellphones. Outside United States too.
What does that have to do with anything? Simple: If cell phones are responsible for the increase in pedestrian deaths, this trend should be visible where smartphone adoption and car ownership overlap — in other words, the world’s powerhouse economies. If you’ve made it this far, you’ve probably already guessed what I’m going to say next: math is not math.
Since we love visualization, here’s another one. The above is based on public data United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (And the US statistics are Supported by NHTSA), and it paints a very clear picture.
Don’t you like my crooked trend lines? Don’t worry; Others have already covered the same ground, and in much more detail. It doesn’t matter whose lines you look at, they all point in the same direction, and that’s not right.
In 2013, total pedestrian deaths were approximately equal in the United States and Western Europe. It’s been four years since an increase in the number of pedestrian deaths was recorded in the US, and as we can see, apart from an increase in 2016, the steady downward trend in Europe continues largely unabated. As of 2021, the number of pedestrian deaths in the US was more than double that of Western Europe; According to IIHS, things Not much has changed since then.
The picture does not change outside Europe. Japan, which has struggled with pedestrian safety due to its historically dense development Similarly, a decline in the death rate was also seen During the same period, and it has adopted much Pedestrian-First Safety Culture. Australia has been Rapid response to pandemicBut not showing the same trends as the United States In this case, neither is Canada.
Meanwhile, China represents a black box. The country’s pedestrian fatality rate has been estimated at one up to 17 per 100,000Which might not sound so bad in the abstract, but it would suggest that pedestrians and cyclists are being killed at a rate that would be frightening. Residents of America’s urban centers during the 1920sWhere the widespread availability of automobiles brought that number to 12 in 100,000; Today, the US pedestrian fatality rate is around 2.3. These are certainly signs of explosive industrialization, and are likely not directly attributable to the number of Chinese citizens engaging with TikTok.
Is distracted driving (and walking/bicycling) a problem? Definitely. But is this the reason why America’s roads are becoming increasingly unsuitable for pedestrians and cyclists? Feel free to judge for yourself, but statistics rarely lie.
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