Safe Systems for Safer Streets

America Walks is deeply troubled by the sharp increase in pedestrian fatalities over the last decade. Last year, 6,227 pedestrians were killed. This was up from almost 6,000 in 2017 and the largest number since 1990. Seniors, people of color and low-income individuals are at greatest risk, over twice as likely to be killed.

In 2018, we partnered with the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center (UNC HSRC) to launch the Safer Systems program. The program focused on creating the local and regional capacities to assess, plan, and prioritize effective and context-sensitive pedestrian safety countermeasures, and to increase a community’s sense of urgency for changing built environment decisions. Twelve communities participated in the year-long program, which consisted of a series of online learning modules and guided work on a pedestrian safety plan.