Pedestrians — perhaps distracted by smartphones or strolling more at night due to warming temperatures — are being killed in traffic accidents at the highest rate in 30 years, researchers said Thursday.
About 6,590 pedestrians died in crashes in 2019, up 5% from the year before, according to data collected by the Governors Highway Safety Association.
The decade-long trend shows a far sharper increase, NBC News reports.
The number of pedestrian fatalities had fallen over two decades, from 6,870 in 1989 all the way down to 4,109 in 2009, researchers said. Then things changed.
