August 1, 2023 • 30 mins
The dangers for those who travel on foot have constituted a public health challenge for as long as we’ve had motor vehicles. Why are pedestrian deaths increasing so fast? And what can be done to stem the tide?
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Episode Transcript
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Bernie Fette (host) (00:14):
Hello and welcome to Thinking
Transportation. Conversationsabout how we get ourselves and
the things we need from oneplace to another. I'm Bernie
Fette with the Texas A&MTransportation Institute. In
this episode, we're taking aclose look at the latest
numbers on pedestrian safety inAmerica. It's not an
(00:39):
encouraging picture. More than7,500 people traveling on foot
last year were killed byvehicle drivers. That's more
than any year in the past fourdecades, pedestrian deaths have
increased by almost 80 percentover the past 10 years. Other
traffic deaths are up too, butonly by about 25 percent. Here
(01:04):
to help us understand what'sgoing on with this trend is Ben
Ettelman, an associate researchscientist at TTI. Ben, welcome
to Thinking Transportation.
Ben Ettelman (guest) (01:14):
Thanks so much for having me, Bernie. I
appreciate it.
Bernie Fette (01:18):
I'm gonna quote really briefly from your bio
here that says that your workfocuses on research that
informs the interaction betweentransportation and public
health. Mm-hmm .Do I have that right?
Ben Ettelman (01:30):
That's right. Yep .
Bernie Fette (01:31):
Okay. Seems like a really fitting description
given what we're talking abouttoday, because more than 7,500
pedestrians were killed byvehicle drivers last year.
That's the highest number in 40years. Pedestrian deaths have
increased by almost 80 percentover the past decade. Other
(01:54):
traffic deaths are up too , butonly by about 25 percent. Why
is this happening, Ben? Help usunderstand the problem better,
if you would, and then after wetalk about that a bit, we can
go into discussing solutions.
Ben Ettelman (02:10):
Sure, sure. Well, yes, it's an epidemic, and it's
something that anybody whoworks in transportation,
safety, public health is veryaware of, and something that
significant efforts have beenmade by city, state , and local
and transportation agenciesacross the country. And
frustratingly those numbersaren't reflective of those
(02:32):
efforts. You know, youmentioned the national numbers,
but I also wanted to mentionthe Texas numbers because in
Texas in 2014, there were 488fatalities and 1,059 serious
injuries. In 2022, there were828 pedestrian fatalities and
1,442 serious injuries. That1,442 in 2022 accounts for 5.8
(02:57):
percent of all seriousinjuries. But the 828
fatalities accounts for 17.3percent of all of the
fatalities in the state ofTexas.
Bernie Fette (03:08):
So the pedestrian deaths as a share of overall
traffic deaths, that segment isgrowing.
Ben Ettelman (03:14):
That's correct.
And so this really ultimatelyspeaks to the challenge that we
face when we have vulnerableroad users, which includes
pedestrians, bicyclists, aswell as motorcyclists. But when
pedestrians are struck by avehicle, the likelihood that
they are seriously injured orkilled is extremely high as
compared to traffic crashes. Somm-hmm. , one of
(03:37):
the reasons for these steadilyrising numbers, of course, is
VMT rising. In 2014, we hadabout 2.98 trillion vehicle
miles traveled . That's thenumber of vehicle miles, or how
much people are driving,essentially. So 2.98 trillion
in 2014, up to 3.26 trillion in2022. So again, we're seeing a
(03:59):
steady increase in the vehicleson the road, both the number of
vehicles and how many milesthey're driving.
Bernie Fette (04:04):
So you have that many more miles being driven,
that many more cars on theroad. It more or less stands to
reason that this is a functionof exposure, right?
Ben Ettelman (04:13):
That's exactly right. And the exposure is
significantly impacted byspeed. If you look at the
average risk of severe injuryor a fatality to pedestrians
struck by a vehicle, it's about10 percent at an impact speed
of 16 miles per hour, 25percent at 23 miles per hour,
it goes up to 50 percent at 31miles per hour, 75 percent at
(04:38):
40 miles per hour, and 90percent at 46 miles per hour.
So as we see speeds increase,and as we see increased
exposure of vulnerable roadusers, including pedestrians,
more cars on the road, carsdriving faster, we're going to
see these numbers increase. Sothis is one of the most
significant reasons we'reseeing this steady increase of
(05:01):
pedestrian serious injuries andfatalities in Texas and in the
United States. Mm-hmm.
. And ultimatelywhat we know is the biggest
additional reason for ourinability to, to protect our
most vulnerable road users isthat we have infrastructure
that has traditionally notprotected the most vulnerable
(05:22):
road users. Now, this ischanging, and I think we can
dig into this more, but I thinkit's really important point up
top to state that we need tomake sure that we have
infrastructure that protectsour vulnerable road users from
human error protects vulnerableroad users from individuals who
are speeding, protectsvulnerable road users from the
increased number of vehicles onthe road. And again, we're
(05:45):
moving in the right direction.
There's the safe systemsapproach that USDOT has
implemented across the country,and this translates to efforts
like Road to Zero in the stateof Texas and several cities
within the, the state of Texasthat have adopted Vision Zero
initiatives. All of theseinitiatives are focused on
creating infrastructure thatprioritizes, protects
(06:06):
vulnerable road users, butanything related to
transportation infrastructure,that change is incremental. It
takes time.
Bernie Fette (06:14):
Okay.
Infrastructure that protectsvulnerable road users. Talk a
little about what that lookslike, because when you say
infrastructure, you're talkingabout all of it. You're talking
about the roads. I guess you'realso talking about placement of
sidewalks, placement ofcrosswalks. What does that look
like in a world wheretransportation systems are
designed with vulnerable roadusers more in mind? What would
(06:38):
that look like? Mm-hmm .
Ben Ettelman (06:39):
So
I'll use an example from my
hometown city of Austin.
There's a stretch of 51stStreet in between Airport
Boulevard and I-35. Now, thisused to be a four-lane road
with sidewalks right up againstthe edge of the road. So you
had no merge, you had no bikelane, you have about eight and
(06:59):
a half foot wide lanes. And soyou have a road where vehicles
were traveling very fast. Andon top of that, you had very
little buffer between anyvulnerable road users and the
vehicles on that road. So overthe past year, the city of
Austin went through what'scalled a road diet , and they
narrowed that road down to twolanes, one lane in each
(07:21):
direction with significantbuffer, including the bollards,
kind of the big white plasticseparator between the bike
lane, which also provides moreof a buffer between the
pedestrian facility. So thisdoes several things. It slows
traffic down because you haveless vehicles on the road and
more narrow lanes. It providesa buffer between vehicles and
(07:43):
pedestrians. And again, itactually, because you have more
vehicles traveling on a roadwith less capacity, less
roadway, it naturally leads tovehicles driving more slowly.
The other aspect that I'llshare in terms of when we talk
about transportationinfrastructure, and I talk
about this all the time, is theold adage that someone driving
(08:06):
a vehicle, they typically don'tlook at the speed limit when
they're driving. They drive asfast as they feel comfortable
based on the design of theroad. So even if you have ...
Bernie Fette (08:16):
Or as fast as the rest of the people are driving?
Ben Ettelman (08:18):
That's true. And so if you have a 35 mile per
hour road, but you have fourlanes and they're , you know,
10 to 12 feet wide, you'll havevehicles driving quite a bit
faster regardless of whetherthere's pedestrian facilities
there. So this approach tonarrowing roads, providing
facilities with buffers, it'snot just a, Hey, let's put a a
(08:40):
sidewalk on the side of aroadway. It's okay, let's
narrow the roads so people lookat this road and say, this
doesn't feel like a 60 mile perhour or a 50 mile per hour
road. This feels like a 35 mileper hour road.
Bernie Fette (08:53):
Okay. And the example that you've given here
with 51st Street in Austin wasa retrofitting. It was an
example of changing somethingthat already existed that was
mm-hmm . designedand built many years ago. How
much of the infrastructuresolution that you've been
talking about, how much of thatis about changing what already
(09:19):
has been built and how much ofthat is about designing
infrastructure that hasn't yetbeen built? That's still part
of a plan in a growing part ofa community. How do you
approach those twoconcurrently?
Ben Ettelman (09:33):
I think that several cities are focused
where they can on narrowingroads in areas that have high
crash rates. Mm-hmm.
In terms ofdesigning new facilities. Or
perhaps a good example would beredesigning and rebuilding
facilities. Like I-35 is beingredesigned and rebuilt in
(09:55):
several locations in centralTexas. And there absolutely is
the inclination by, forexample, TxDOT to make sure
that when they are designingthese roadways, there are
pedestrian facilities that arebeing designed that are
separated from the roadway. Soit's not a frontage road with a
(10:15):
sidewalk directly abutting thatfrontage road. Rather, they
have a hike / bike trail inseveral locations along 35 that
are separated.
Bernie Fette (10:24):
Yeah. And that's an example of the new
construction.
Ben Ettelman (10:26):
That's correct.
Yep . So there is an emphasisin the redesigning and the
rebuilding and the building ofnew facilities on safe
pedestrian facilities. There isa challenge that all
transportation agencies face inthe United States, and that is
that we have an auto-dominatedtransportation system. Frankly,
(10:47):
the majority of our societydrives in single occupancy
vehicles. We have communitiesthat have been designed around
the automobile. We have folksthat live in suburbs. They're
driving from 20, 30, 40 minutesoutside of the city center to
access jobs, to access schools,to access services. Mm-hmm.
(11:08):
. So we rely onthese high-speed facilities.
And so I definitely understandthe , the challenge that
transportation agencies facewhen they're trying to
accommodate ensuring theefficiency of travel time
reliability, ensuring thatthese vehicles have the ability
to drive from point A to pointB, but also ensuring that we
(11:28):
have pedestrian facilities. Soin many cases we have cities
and states trying to worktogether to create facilities
that are automobile focused ,and then create facilities that
are more pedestrian focused .
Bernie Fette (11:42):
Okay. That's a really good introduction to one
question that I had, which isthat distinction between the
two. You've talked aboutpedestrian bridges, for
example. Mm-hmm ., we've talked about using an
example on the street where Ilive has dedicated lanes for
bicycles, it has sidewalks andit has automobile traffic
(12:05):
lanes. Mm-hmm..
That's an example of a sharedinfrastructure space as opposed
to the pedestrian bridge thatyou mentioned, which is
dedicated exclusively to thatform of transportation. Is part
of the solution to thischallenge that simple, if I can
use that word, so simple as acomplete separation between the
(12:30):
infrastructure that servespedestrians and the
infrastructure that servesautomobiles, other motorized
transportation? Or am I justoversimplifying here?
Ben Ettelman (12:40):
Well, unfortunately, yeah. I mean it
is oversimplified, but it's,you're not wrong. I mean, I
completely agree. And I thinkthat when pedestrian safety
folks sit down withtransportation agencies and
say, how can we address this?
That's certainly theconversation that we have. How
can we separate these modesbecause they clash? Well, the
(13:01):
problem ultimately comes alsodown to land use. And we won't
go too in depth with land use.
But ultimately when we haveland use patterns and
development patterns that havespread folks out so
significantly, you're going tohave folks walking in places
where there are cars. If youlook at New York, they have a
(13:21):
significant density, they havesignificant number of
pedestrians. You would think,well, that increase in exposure
would lead to more fatalities,more serious injuries. Mm-hmm.
. But inpractice, it's actually the
opposite because the densityand development over the past
several decades and century atthis point, has led to a , an
environment that is friendly topedestrians and isn't friendly
(13:44):
to speed. In most of the UnitedStates, you have cities that
have been designed around theautomobile. Ultimately, we have
the demand for pedestrianfacilities and demand for
pedestrians walking spreadthroughout the entire
community. So there is no easylight switch to say, yeah, we
(14:06):
can just have all of ourvehicles on this road and all
of our pedestrians in thislocation because ultimately the
way that our cities in theUnited States have been
developed mean that we havethose needs in the same place.
Bernie Fette (14:18):
Right. And a lot of the reason for that is not
only because of land use, butbecause of personal preference,
I would imagine. Mm-hmm .
. Mm-hmm .
for the peoplewho want to live in any place
where other people live, 'causeone of the things that you
pointed out is that people aretraveling farther, say from
where they live to where theymight work to a city center or
(14:39):
a more densely populated partof an urban area. And as those
urban areas and then suburbanareas spread out, we have more
miles traveled, which you weretalking about earlier in our
conversation. You have moremiles traveled, which then
again, just basically becauseof exposure increases the
potential for conflicts betweencars and humans. Right?
Ben Ettelman (15:02):
Yeah, absolutely.
Bernie Fette (15:04):
Okay. You pointed out a lot about infrastructure.
Are these numbers going upbecause we have the same
problem with impaired walkingthat we have with impaired
driving? Does alcohol fit intothe cause mix at all from what
you've studied?
Ben Ettelman (15:19):
You know, Bernie, I have heard several folks
within the pedestrian safetyand the traffic safety
community talk about thepotential impact of drunk
walking on these numbers. But Iwill also say that I have not
seen research that shows thatindividuals walking drunk has
led to these increases. I amcertain that there are examples
(15:39):
of that, but I have not seenany research that says that
that is a significantcontributing factor.
Bernie Fette (15:43):
Okay. And I have another question about it that
may have a similar answer fromyou, because it's another area
where I've read a bit, but havenot seen any really hard
statistics, any really harddata, even in the academic
literature that I've looked at.
And that's the issue of peoplewho choose to end their own
lives by jumping into traffic.
(16:06):
Mm-hmm . Fromwhat little that I've seen, and
I've heard from people in thefield that address mental
health concerns. And again,even a little bit in the
academic literature world, thatthis really is a thing. It's
just that for obvious reasons,it's very difficult to judge
(16:27):
intent. Is that a piece of thepedestrian safety issue that
you have heard about or readabout, learned about in any way
, even if it's only anecdotal?
Ben Ettelman (16:40):
Yes. And I will say, as you stated, it's
anecdotal, but it's somethingthat we do discuss within the
pedestrian safety community.
The intent is hard to reallyput your finger on. But I would
kind of reframe this by saying,we shouldn't be trying to say,
well, this individual isattempting to end their life,
(17:01):
or this individual was underthe influence and made a
decision that they wouldn'thave made if they weren't under
the influence. Mm-hmm.
, we , we justcannot make a judgment on that.
However, as a transportationprofessional, what we can do is
say, well, how can we ensurethat that individual cannot put
themselves in harm's way? Toooften this conversation comes
(17:24):
up and folks are saying, howcan we keep people from making
these decisions? And Iultimately push back on that
notion 'cause I think that,again, we don't know intent. We
need to create infrastructurethat protects those
individuals, whether it'sthey're trying to end their
life or they are, you know,drunk or on drugs, and they
make a decision that theywouldn't make if they were
(17:45):
otherwise sober. Theinfrastructure needs to protect
them from that bad decision.
Bernie Fette (17:51):
Let's talk briefly about demographics, if
we could. Are there anyparticular groups that are
especially at risk or morelikely to be injured or killed
by a vehicle driver?
Ben Ettelman (18:04):
There's significant equity implications
with pedestrian safety. Andit's something that, again,
within the community we talkabout all the time. So this is
a challenge that ismultifaceted. If we look at the
areas in a community that areunderserved, if you look at the
demographics, they have lowerrates of car ownership, higher
(18:25):
transit usage. So ultimatelythese are households and
populations that are walkingmore. Oftentimes there is
underinvestment in safefacilities in these areas. So
there in many cases aren'tsidewalks or discontinued
sidewalks. Sidewalks for ablock, and then no sidewalk.
And in these locations,oftentimes we see speeds are
(18:46):
higher. At the same time, we'lllook at maybe some of the areas
within cities where there aresignificant investments. And a
lot of times the way thatpedestrian facilities have
historically been built overthe past, say two decades,
three decades, has been okay --a big developer comes in, they
want to build a big apartmentcomplex. As part of that
(19:08):
development, they are thenrequired to build pedestrian
facilities. So if you look atcity centers where there's been
significant development, youhave amazing, pristine
pedestrian facilities, butyou're not getting that same
investment in underservedcommunities.
Bernie Fette (19:23):
Okay. So I've heard you mention two things,
both the circumstances forpeople living in a particular
area, and the limited amount ofpublic investment that's made
in the infrastructure. In otherwords, not as many sidewalks.
And at the same time, you'vegot people who are depending
more on transit, people who areless likely to own a car. So in
(19:48):
both of those regards, bothwith the infrastructure and the
circumstances for the peopleliving in certain areas, this
is an economic issue in largemeasure, it sounds like, if I'm
not oversimplifying once again.
So one demographic group thatis, for example, at greater
risk is the group that is oflower income, correct?
Ben Ettelman (20:08):
Yes. I know cities like Austin, San
Antonio, Dallas, Houston, ElPaso are addressing this. So
they are making investments inthese communities specifically
because they know they havebeen underinvested. And that
has led to increased exposure,increased pedestrian serious
injuries and fatalities.
Bernie Fette (20:30):
So the underinvestment then ends up
leading to anoverrepresentation in the
pedestrian death statistics.
Ben Ettelman (20:39):
That's well put .
Bernie Fette (20:40):
Okay. So here's the big question. We've been
talking a lot about the problemand the causes for it. How do
we fix this? How do we fix thisever worsening traffic safety
issue that is also a seriouspublic health issue? Do we need
new solutions? Do we need oldsolutions done in a different
way? Are there solutions thatdon't work as well as they used
(21:03):
to? What do we do, Ben ?
Ben Ettelman (21:06):
There are certainly plenty of engineering
countermeasures that are beingimplemented that are highly
effective. But I will make twopoints that I think are
critically important. The firstis collaboration. It's a
multidisciplinary problem. Weneed to have policy in place
that provides protection forpedestrians. We need to make
(21:28):
sure that we have the abilityfor our law enforcement
community to be able to enforcethose laws when they're
implemented. And , and that's achallenge right now, one that
we haven't touched on, but it'sa significant challenge in
traffic safety across the boardbecause we have a significant
shortage in police officersacross the country. I have
family members who are policeofficers, and I've talked to
(21:50):
them about this. And this leadsto traffic enforcement being
one of the lowest items on thetotem pole. There are solutions
like automated enforcement thatcan be considered. And we also
need to make sure that we'recontinuing to push forward on
education and outreach efforts.
Uh, we wanna make sure that thepublic understands that you
(22:10):
know, that they have aresponsibility driving under
the influence that puts peopleat risk. I think that there
continues to be significantemphasis from state dots and
cities to message how importantit is not to drive under the
influence. However, we continueto see that be a significant
contributor to traffic safetydeaths and serious injuries. We
(22:33):
also wanna make sure thatindividuals who are pedestrians
know the best way to cross thestreet. For example, when
you're crossing mid-block, apedestrian has the right to
cross mid-block in the state ofTexas, but they have to yield
to a vehicle. Conversely, if apedestrian is crossing at a
crosswalk, if their foot is inthe crosswalk, the vehicle
(22:54):
should yield. But I would saythat the infrastructure
component will make the biggestimpact on improving pedestrian
safety in Texas and in theUnited States. First of all, we
need to collaborate among allof the different, you know,
organizations, whether it'sstate, regional, and local
entities. We need collaborationbetween law enforcement and
(23:15):
transportation agencies toensure that we're messaging
consistently. But the secondpoint would be, if we could
only do one thing, we wouldneed to invest in
infrastructure that protectsour vulnerable users. If we
want to reduce the number ofserious injuries and
fatalities, we need to continueto develop infrastructure that
(23:38):
protects vulnerable road users.
Bernie Fette (23:40):
So you've got a long list of potential
solutions, but infrastructureis at the top of the list.
Ben Ettelman (23:46):
From my perspective. Yes. And that's
not to minimize the impact ofpolicy, of enforcement, of
education and outreach. It justmeans that at the end of the
day, we have the ability tobuild infrastructure that can
keep people from makingmistakes. People are fallible,
people will speed. People willnot look over their shoulder
(24:07):
when they're turning right andmiss that there's a pedestrian
crossing the street.
Pedestrians will make mistakes.
They'll cross mid-block,they'll cross when they're not
supposed to at an intersection.
Mistakes have happened and willcontinue to happen. We need to
build infrastructure thatprotects our most vulnerable
road users from making amistake.
Bernie Fette (24:28):
So we're gaining a better understanding of the
problem, but the numbers arestill high and they're growing.
What is the greatest researchneed? We've talked about the
solutions starting withinfrastructure. If you had to
make a list of researchpriorities to help us
understand the problem evenbetter, what would you put at
(24:51):
the top of the list of researchneeds?
Ben Ettelman (24:54):
You know, I would say that from engineering
research, we have excellentresearch happening. From my
time beginning to work in thisfield 10 years ago to now, I've
seen significant improvementsin the options that are
available to practitioners toimplement in terms of
engineering countermeasures. Ithink the research, from my
(25:14):
perspective, isn't necessarilyon a light switch solution. You
know, it is much more on howcan we get state DOTs, regional
planning organizations andcities to coordinate and
collaborate to ensure thattheir priorities align . So we
can all work together to ensurethat we are building
(25:36):
infrastructure from state roadsto regional roads, to local
roads that are protecting theseindividuals.
Bernie Fette (25:45):
We have certainly covered a lot today. If our
audience could take away justone big thought from our
conversation, what would youhope that that thought would be
?
Ben Ettelman (25:55):
Well, I would hope the thought would be,
let's collectively focus on themost impactful approaches to
improving pedestrian safety.
And from my perspective, asI've mentioned, that's
infrastructure. Infrastructurethat limits speed, that
provides safe facilities, thatseparates pedestrians from
high-speed traffic,infrastructure that provides
(26:17):
safe crossings. There areseveral examples of cities
doing it right, of states doingit right. And we just need to
double down on these efforts.
Bernie, I don't think there'sanything that Ben Ettelman can
provide right now that isn't inthe ether. It's much more about
recognizing that we need tocome together and we need to
(26:39):
focus on collectively andcollaboratively creating and
developing infrastructure thathas a vulnerable road user in
mind. And if that means that wehave to sacrifice a little bit
of speed, a little bit ofthroughput, a little bit of the
ability for folks to travelfrom point A to point B in 20
minutes as opposed to 18minutes, that's a fair
(27:01):
sacrifice to save lives.
Bernie Fette (27:03):
Last question.
What is it that gets youexcited about showing up for
work every day ?
Ben Ettelman (27:10):
. So I
love the fact that the work
that we do with Texas A&MTransportation Institute helps
us improve the lives ofeveryday citizens. This is a
really important topic, onethat frankly is a little bit
negative, but everyone withinTTI, from our folks who are
(27:31):
doing more of the engineeringresearch to the folks doing
more of the outreach andeducation and coordination, we
are all focused on improvingthose numbers as significantly
and drastically as we can. Sowhat makes me excited is the
fact that when I wake up, whenI come to work, I can make a
difference in the world. I cansave a life. And that's, I
think what gets everybody whoworks in pedestrian safety at
(27:54):
TTI excited to to do this work.
Bernie Fette (27:58):
We have been visiting with Ben Ettelman, an
associate research scientistand program manager at TTI.
Ben, thanks very much forsharing your time and insights
with us. We appreciate it.
Ben Ettelman (28:11):
Thank you, Bernie, for having me. I
appreciate it as always,
Bernie Fette (28:15):
People who navigate our transportation
systems on foot face dangersthat have been around for as
long as we've had automobiles.
In fact, the number ofpedestrians killed in motor
vehicle collisions has nearlydoubled since 2010. The reasons
for this deadly trend are many.
Experts point to the growingprevalence of trucks and SUVs
(28:38):
on the road, driverdistraction, and speeding. So,
while vehicles have becomesafer over the years, drivers
in many cases have not.
Strategies to address thisproblem encompass the full
range of engineering,education, and enforcement
actions. But at the center ofthe solution mix is the need
(29:02):
for transportation agencies andstakeholder groups to
collaborate -- because it's aproblem that's too big for any
single entity to tackle alone.
Thanks for listening. Pleasetake just a minute to give us a
review, subscribe and sharethis episode, and please join
(29:22):
us again next time for a visitwith Michael Berube, the Deputy
Assistant Secretary forSustainable Transportation and
Fuels at the U. S. Departmentof Energy. Thinking
Transportation is a productionof the Texas A&M Transportation
Institute, a member of theTexas A&M University system.
The show is edited and producedby Chris Pourteau. I'm your
(29:46):
writer and host, Bernie Fette,Thanks again for listening.
We'll see you next time.
Hello and welcome to Thinking
Transportation. Conversationsabout how we get ourselves and
the things we need from oneplace to another. I'm Bernie
Fette with the Texas A&MTransportation Institute. In
this episode, we're taking aclose look at the latest
numbers on pedestrian safety inAmerica. It's not an
(00:39):
encouraging picture. More than7,500 people traveling on foot
last year were killed byvehicle drivers. That's more
than any year in the past fourdecades, pedestrian deaths have
increased by almost 80 percentover the past 10 years. Other
traffic deaths are up too, butonly by about 25 percent. Here
(01:04):
to help us understand what'sgoing on with this trend is Ben
Ettelman, an associate researchscientist at TTI. Ben, welcome
to Thinking Transportation.
Ben Ettelman (guest) (01:14):
Thanks so much for having me, Bernie. I
appreciate it.
Bernie Fette (01:18):
I'm gonna quote really briefly from your bio
here that says that your workfocuses on research that
informs the interaction betweentransportation and public
health. Mm-hmm .
Ben Ettelman (01:30):
That's right. Yep .
Bernie Fette (01:31):
Okay. Seems like a really fitting description
given what we're talking abouttoday, because more than 7,500
pedestrians were killed byvehicle drivers last year.
That's the highest number in 40years. Pedestrian deaths have
increased by almost 80 percentover the past decade. Other
(01:54):
traffic deaths are up too , butonly by about 25 percent. Why
is this happening, Ben? Help usunderstand the problem better,
if you would, and then after wetalk about that a bit, we can
go into discussing solutions.
Ben Ettelman (02:10):
Sure, sure. Well, yes, it's an epidemic, and it's
something that anybody whoworks in transportation,
safety, public health is veryaware of, and something that
significant efforts have beenmade by city, state , and local
and transportation agenciesacross the country. And
frustratingly those numbersaren't reflective of those
(02:32):
efforts. You know, youmentioned the national numbers,
but I also wanted to mentionthe Texas numbers because in
Texas in 2014, there were 488fatalities and 1,059 serious
injuries. In 2022, there were828 pedestrian fatalities and
1,442 serious injuries. That1,442 in 2022 accounts for 5.8
(02:57):
percent of all seriousinjuries. But the 828
fatalities accounts for 17.3percent of all of the
fatalities in the state ofTexas.
Bernie Fette (03:08):
So the pedestrian deaths as a share of overall
traffic deaths, that segment isgrowing.
Ben Ettelman (03:14):
That's correct.
And so this really ultimatelyspeaks to the challenge that we
face when we have vulnerableroad users, which includes
pedestrians, bicyclists, aswell as motorcyclists. But when
pedestrians are struck by avehicle, the likelihood that
they are seriously injured orkilled is extremely high as
compared to traffic crashes. Somm-hmm.
(03:37):
the reasons for these steadilyrising numbers, of course, is
VMT rising. In 2014, we hadabout 2.98 trillion vehicle
miles traveled . That's thenumber of vehicle miles, or how
much people are driving,essentially. So 2.98 trillion
in 2014, up to 3.26 trillion in2022. So again, we're seeing a
(03:59):
steady increase in the vehicleson the road, both the number of
vehicles and how many milesthey're driving.
Bernie Fette (04:04):
So you have that many more miles being driven,
that many more cars on theroad. It more or less stands to
reason that this is a functionof exposure, right?
Ben Ettelman (04:13):
That's exactly right. And the exposure is
significantly impacted byspeed. If you look at the
average risk of severe injuryor a fatality to pedestrians
struck by a vehicle, it's about10 percent at an impact speed
of 16 miles per hour, 25percent at 23 miles per hour,
it goes up to 50 percent at 31miles per hour, 75 percent at
(04:38):
40 miles per hour, and 90percent at 46 miles per hour.
So as we see speeds increase,and as we see increased
exposure of vulnerable roadusers, including pedestrians,
more cars on the road, carsdriving faster, we're going to
see these numbers increase. Sothis is one of the most
significant reasons we'reseeing this steady increase of
(05:01):
pedestrian serious injuries andfatalities in Texas and in the
United States. Mm-hmm.
additional reason for ourinability to, to protect our
most vulnerable road users isthat we have infrastructure
that has traditionally notprotected the most vulnerable
(05:22):
road users. Now, this ischanging, and I think we can
dig into this more, but I thinkit's really important point up
top to state that we need tomake sure that we have
infrastructure that protectsour vulnerable road users from
human error protects vulnerableroad users from individuals who
are speeding, protectsvulnerable road users from the
increased number of vehicles onthe road. And again, we're
(05:45):
moving in the right direction.
There's the safe systemsapproach that USDOT has
implemented across the country,and this translates to efforts
like Road to Zero in the stateof Texas and several cities
within the, the state of Texasthat have adopted Vision Zero
initiatives. All of theseinitiatives are focused on
creating infrastructure thatprioritizes, protects
(06:06):
vulnerable road users, butanything related to
transportation infrastructure,that change is incremental. It
takes time.
Bernie Fette (06:14):
Okay.
Infrastructure that protectsvulnerable road users. Talk a
little about what that lookslike, because when you say
infrastructure, you're talkingabout all of it. You're talking
about the roads. I guess you'realso talking about placement of
sidewalks, placement ofcrosswalks. What does that look
like in a world wheretransportation systems are
designed with vulnerable roadusers more in mind? What would
(06:38):
that look like? Mm-hmm .
Ben Ettelman (06:39):
hometown city of Austin.
There's a stretch of 51stStreet in between Airport
Boulevard and I-35. Now, thisused to be a four-lane road
with sidewalks right up againstthe edge of the road. So you
had no merge, you had no bikelane, you have about eight and
(06:59):
a half foot wide lanes. And soyou have a road where vehicles
were traveling very fast. Andon top of that, you had very
little buffer between anyvulnerable road users and the
vehicles on that road. So overthe past year, the city of
Austin went through what'scalled a road diet , and they
narrowed that road down to twolanes, one lane in each
(07:21):
direction with significantbuffer, including the bollards,
kind of the big white plasticseparator between the bike
lane, which also provides moreof a buffer between the
pedestrian facility. So thisdoes several things. It slows
traffic down because you haveless vehicles on the road and
more narrow lanes. It providesa buffer between vehicles and
(07:43):
pedestrians. And again, itactually, because you have more
vehicles traveling on a roadwith less capacity, less
roadway, it naturally leads tovehicles driving more slowly.
The other aspect that I'llshare in terms of when we talk
about transportationinfrastructure, and I talk
about this all the time, is theold adage that someone driving
(08:06):
a vehicle, they typically don'tlook at the speed limit when
they're driving. They drive asfast as they feel comfortable
based on the design of theroad. So even if you have ...
Bernie Fette (08:16):
Or as fast as the rest of the people are driving?
Ben Ettelman (08:18):
That's true. And so if you have a 35 mile per
hour road, but you have fourlanes and they're , you know,
10 to 12 feet wide, you'll havevehicles driving quite a bit
faster regardless of whetherthere's pedestrian facilities
there. So this approach tonarrowing roads, providing
facilities with buffers, it'snot just a, Hey, let's put a a
(08:40):
sidewalk on the side of aroadway. It's okay, let's
narrow the roads so people lookat this road and say, this
doesn't feel like a 60 mile perhour or a 50 mile per hour
road. This feels like a 35 mileper hour road.
Bernie Fette (08:53):
Okay. And the example that you've given here
with 51st Street in Austin wasa retrofitting. It was an
example of changing somethingthat already existed that was
mm-hmm .
much of the infrastructuresolution that you've been
talking about, how much of thatis about changing what already
(09:19):
has been built and how much ofthat is about designing
infrastructure that hasn't yetbeen built? That's still part
of a plan in a growing part ofa community. How do you
approach those twoconcurrently?
Ben Ettelman (09:33):
I think that several cities are focused
where they can on narrowingroads in areas that have high
crash rates. Mm-hmm.
perhaps a good example would beredesigning and rebuilding
facilities. Like I-35 is beingredesigned and rebuilt in
(09:55):
several locations in centralTexas. And there absolutely is
the inclination by, forexample, TxDOT to make sure
that when they are designingthese roadways, there are
pedestrian facilities that arebeing designed that are
separated from the roadway. Soit's not a frontage road with a
(10:15):
sidewalk directly abutting thatfrontage road. Rather, they
have a hike / bike trail inseveral locations along 35 that
are separated.
Bernie Fette (10:24):
Yeah. And that's an example of the new
construction.
Ben Ettelman (10:26):
That's correct.
Yep . So there is an emphasisin the redesigning and the
rebuilding and the building ofnew facilities on safe
pedestrian facilities. There isa challenge that all
transportation agencies face inthe United States, and that is
that we have an auto-dominatedtransportation system. Frankly,
(10:47):
the majority of our societydrives in single occupancy
vehicles. We have communitiesthat have been designed around
the automobile. We have folksthat live in suburbs. They're
driving from 20, 30, 40 minutesoutside of the city center to
access jobs, to access schools,to access services. Mm-hmm.
(11:08):
And so I definitely understandthe , the challenge that
transportation agencies facewhen they're trying to
accommodate ensuring theefficiency of travel time
reliability, ensuring thatthese vehicles have the ability
to drive from point A to pointB, but also ensuring that we
(11:28):
have pedestrian facilities. Soin many cases we have cities
and states trying to worktogether to create facilities
that are automobile focused ,and then create facilities that
are more pedestrian focused .
Bernie Fette (11:42):
Okay. That's a really good introduction to one
question that I had, which isthat distinction between the
two. You've talked aboutpedestrian bridges, for
example. Mm-hmm .
example on the street where Ilive has dedicated lanes for
bicycles, it has sidewalks andit has automobile traffic
(12:05):
lanes. Mm-hmm.
That's an example of a sharedinfrastructure space as opposed
to the pedestrian bridge thatyou mentioned, which is
dedicated exclusively to thatform of transportation. Is part
of the solution to thischallenge that simple, if I can
use that word, so simple as acomplete separation between the
(12:30):
infrastructure that servespedestrians and the
infrastructure that servesautomobiles, other motorized
transportation? Or am I justoversimplifying here?
Ben Ettelman (12:40):
Well, unfortunately, yeah. I mean it
is oversimplified, but it's,you're not wrong. I mean, I
completely agree. And I thinkthat when pedestrian safety
folks sit down withtransportation agencies and
say, how can we address this?
That's certainly theconversation that we have. How
can we separate these modesbecause they clash? Well, the
(13:01):
problem ultimately comes alsodown to land use. And we won't
go too in depth with land use.
But ultimately when we haveland use patterns and
development patterns that havespread folks out so
significantly, you're going tohave folks walking in places
where there are cars. If youlook at New York, they have a
(13:21):
significant density, they havesignificant number of
pedestrians. You would think,well, that increase in exposure
would lead to more fatalities,more serious injuries. Mm-hmm.
opposite because the densityand development over the past
several decades and century atthis point, has led to a , an
environment that is friendly topedestrians and isn't friendly
(13:44):
to speed. In most of the UnitedStates, you have cities that
have been designed around theautomobile. Ultimately, we have
the demand for pedestrianfacilities and demand for
pedestrians walking spreadthroughout the entire
community. So there is no easylight switch to say, yeah, we
(14:06):
can just have all of ourvehicles on this road and all
of our pedestrians in thislocation because ultimately the
way that our cities in theUnited States have been
developed mean that we havethose needs in the same place.
Bernie Fette (14:18):
Right. And a lot of the reason for that is not
only because of land use, butbecause of personal preference,
I would imagine. Mm-hmm .
where other people live, 'causeone of the things that you
pointed out is that people aretraveling farther, say from
where they live to where theymight work to a city center or
(14:39):
a more densely populated partof an urban area. And as those
urban areas and then suburbanareas spread out, we have more
miles traveled, which you weretalking about earlier in our
conversation. You have moremiles traveled, which then
again, just basically becauseof exposure increases the
potential for conflicts betweencars and humans. Right?
Ben Ettelman (15:02):
Yeah, absolutely.
Bernie Fette (15:04):
Okay. You pointed out a lot about infrastructure.
Are these numbers going upbecause we have the same
problem with impaired walkingthat we have with impaired
driving? Does alcohol fit intothe cause mix at all from what
you've studied?
Ben Ettelman (15:19):
You know, Bernie, I have heard several folks
within the pedestrian safetyand the traffic safety
community talk about thepotential impact of drunk
walking on these numbers. But Iwill also say that I have not
seen research that shows thatindividuals walking drunk has
led to these increases. I amcertain that there are examples
(15:39):
of that, but I have not seenany research that says that
that is a significantcontributing factor.
Bernie Fette (15:43):
Okay. And I have another question about it that
may have a similar answer fromyou, because it's another area
where I've read a bit, but havenot seen any really hard
statistics, any really harddata, even in the academic
literature that I've looked at.
And that's the issue of peoplewho choose to end their own
lives by jumping into traffic.
(16:06):
Mm-hmm .
I've heard from people in thefield that address mental
health concerns. And again,even a little bit in the
academic literature world, thatthis really is a thing. It's
just that for obvious reasons,it's very difficult to judge
(16:27):
intent. Is that a piece of thepedestrian safety issue that
you have heard about or readabout, learned about in any way
, even if it's only anecdotal?
Ben Ettelman (16:40):
Yes. And I will say, as you stated, it's
anecdotal, but it's somethingthat we do discuss within the
pedestrian safety community.
The intent is hard to reallyput your finger on. But I would
kind of reframe this by saying,we shouldn't be trying to say,
well, this individual isattempting to end their life,
(17:01):
or this individual was underthe influence and made a
decision that they wouldn'thave made if they weren't under
the influence. Mm-hmm.
However, as a transportationprofessional, what we can do is
say, well, how can we ensurethat that individual cannot put
themselves in harm's way? Toooften this conversation comes
(17:24):
up and folks are saying, howcan we keep people from making
these decisions? And Iultimately push back on that
notion 'cause I think that,again, we don't know intent. We
need to create infrastructurethat protects those
individuals, whether it'sthey're trying to end their
life or they are, you know,drunk or on drugs, and they
make a decision that theywouldn't make if they were
(17:45):
otherwise sober. Theinfrastructure needs to protect
them from that bad decision.
Bernie Fette (17:51):
Let's talk briefly about demographics, if
we could. Are there anyparticular groups that are
especially at risk or morelikely to be injured or killed
by a vehicle driver?
Ben Ettelman (18:04):
There's significant equity implications
with pedestrian safety. Andit's something that, again,
within the community we talkabout all the time. So this is
a challenge that ismultifaceted. If we look at the
areas in a community that areunderserved, if you look at the
demographics, they have lowerrates of car ownership, higher
(18:25):
transit usage. So ultimatelythese are households and
populations that are walkingmore. Oftentimes there is
underinvestment in safefacilities in these areas. So
there in many cases aren'tsidewalks or discontinued
sidewalks. Sidewalks for ablock, and then no sidewalk.
And in these locations,oftentimes we see speeds are
(18:46):
higher. At the same time, we'lllook at maybe some of the areas
within cities where there aresignificant investments. And a
lot of times the way thatpedestrian facilities have
historically been built overthe past, say two decades,
three decades, has been okay --a big developer comes in, they
want to build a big apartmentcomplex. As part of that
(19:08):
development, they are thenrequired to build pedestrian
facilities. So if you look atcity centers where there's been
significant development, youhave amazing, pristine
pedestrian facilities, butyou're not getting that same
investment in underservedcommunities.
Bernie Fette (19:23):
Okay. So I've heard you mention two things,
both the circumstances forpeople living in a particular
area, and the limited amount ofpublic investment that's made
in the infrastructure. In otherwords, not as many sidewalks.
And at the same time, you'vegot people who are depending
more on transit, people who areless likely to own a car. So in
(19:48):
both of those regards, bothwith the infrastructure and the
circumstances for the peopleliving in certain areas, this
is an economic issue in largemeasure, it sounds like, if I'm
not oversimplifying once again.
So one demographic group thatis, for example, at greater
risk is the group that is oflower income, correct?
Ben Ettelman (20:08):
Yes. I know cities like Austin, San
Antonio, Dallas, Houston, ElPaso are addressing this. So
they are making investments inthese communities specifically
because they know they havebeen underinvested. And that
has led to increased exposure,increased pedestrian serious
injuries and fatalities.
Bernie Fette (20:30):
So the underinvestment then ends up
leading to anoverrepresentation in the
pedestrian death statistics.
Ben Ettelman (20:39):
That's well put .
Bernie Fette (20:40):
Okay. So here's the big question. We've been
talking a lot about the problemand the causes for it. How do
we fix this? How do we fix thisever worsening traffic safety
issue that is also a seriouspublic health issue? Do we need
new solutions? Do we need oldsolutions done in a different
way? Are there solutions thatdon't work as well as they used
(21:03):
to? What do we do, Ben ?
Ben Ettelman (21:06):
There are certainly plenty of engineering
countermeasures that are beingimplemented that are highly
effective. But I will make twopoints that I think are
critically important. The firstis collaboration. It's a
multidisciplinary problem. Weneed to have policy in place
that provides protection forpedestrians. We need to make
(21:28):
sure that we have the abilityfor our law enforcement
community to be able to enforcethose laws when they're
implemented. And , and that's achallenge right now, one that
we haven't touched on, but it'sa significant challenge in
traffic safety across the boardbecause we have a significant
shortage in police officersacross the country. I have
family members who are policeofficers, and I've talked to
(21:50):
them about this. And this leadsto traffic enforcement being
one of the lowest items on thetotem pole. There are solutions
like automated enforcement thatcan be considered. And we also
need to make sure that we'recontinuing to push forward on
education and outreach efforts.
Uh, we wanna make sure that thepublic understands that you
(22:10):
know, that they have aresponsibility driving under
the influence that puts peopleat risk. I think that there
continues to be significantemphasis from state dots and
cities to message how importantit is not to drive under the
influence. However, we continueto see that be a significant
contributor to traffic safetydeaths and serious injuries. We
(22:33):
also wanna make sure thatindividuals who are pedestrians
know the best way to cross thestreet. For example, when
you're crossing mid-block, apedestrian has the right to
cross mid-block in the state ofTexas, but they have to yield
to a vehicle. Conversely, if apedestrian is crossing at a
crosswalk, if their foot is inthe crosswalk, the vehicle
(22:54):
should yield. But I would saythat the infrastructure
component will make the biggestimpact on improving pedestrian
safety in Texas and in theUnited States. First of all, we
need to collaborate among allof the different, you know,
organizations, whether it'sstate, regional, and local
entities. We need collaborationbetween law enforcement and
(23:15):
transportation agencies toensure that we're messaging
consistently. But the secondpoint would be, if we could
only do one thing, we wouldneed to invest in
infrastructure that protectsour vulnerable users. If we
want to reduce the number ofserious injuries and
fatalities, we need to continueto develop infrastructure that
(23:38):
protects vulnerable road users.
Bernie Fette (23:40):
So you've got a long list of potential
solutions, but infrastructureis at the top of the list.
Ben Ettelman (23:46):
From my perspective. Yes. And that's
not to minimize the impact ofpolicy, of enforcement, of
education and outreach. It justmeans that at the end of the
day, we have the ability tobuild infrastructure that can
keep people from makingmistakes. People are fallible,
people will speed. People willnot look over their shoulder
(24:07):
when they're turning right andmiss that there's a pedestrian
crossing the street.
Pedestrians will make mistakes.
They'll cross mid-block,they'll cross when they're not
supposed to at an intersection.
Mistakes have happened and willcontinue to happen. We need to
build infrastructure thatprotects our most vulnerable
road users from making amistake.
Bernie Fette (24:28):
So we're gaining a better understanding of the
problem, but the numbers arestill high and they're growing.
What is the greatest researchneed? We've talked about the
solutions starting withinfrastructure. If you had to
make a list of researchpriorities to help us
understand the problem evenbetter, what would you put at
(24:51):
the top of the list of researchneeds?
Ben Ettelman (24:54):
You know, I would say that from engineering
research, we have excellentresearch happening. From my
time beginning to work in thisfield 10 years ago to now, I've
seen significant improvementsin the options that are
available to practitioners toimplement in terms of
engineering countermeasures. Ithink the research, from my
(25:14):
perspective, isn't necessarilyon a light switch solution. You
know, it is much more on howcan we get state DOTs, regional
planning organizations andcities to coordinate and
collaborate to ensure thattheir priorities align . So we
can all work together to ensurethat we are building
(25:36):
infrastructure from state roadsto regional roads, to local
roads that are protecting theseindividuals.
Bernie Fette (25:45):
We have certainly covered a lot today. If our
audience could take away justone big thought from our
conversation, what would youhope that that thought would be
?
Ben Ettelman (25:55):
Well, I would hope the thought would be,
let's collectively focus on themost impactful approaches to
improving pedestrian safety.
And from my perspective, asI've mentioned, that's
infrastructure. Infrastructurethat limits speed, that
provides safe facilities, thatseparates pedestrians from
high-speed traffic,infrastructure that provides
(26:17):
safe crossings. There areseveral examples of cities
doing it right, of states doingit right. And we just need to
double down on these efforts.
Bernie, I don't think there'sanything that Ben Ettelman can
provide right now that isn't inthe ether. It's much more about
recognizing that we need tocome together and we need to
(26:39):
focus on collectively andcollaboratively creating and
developing infrastructure thathas a vulnerable road user in
mind. And if that means that wehave to sacrifice a little bit
of speed, a little bit ofthroughput, a little bit of the
ability for folks to travelfrom point A to point B in 20
minutes as opposed to 18minutes, that's a fair
(27:01):
sacrifice to save lives.
Bernie Fette (27:03):
Last question.
What is it that gets youexcited about showing up for
work every day ?
Ben Ettelman (27:10):
that we do with Texas A&MTransportation Institute helps
us improve the lives ofeveryday citizens. This is a
really important topic, onethat frankly is a little bit
negative, but everyone withinTTI, from our folks who are
(27:31):
doing more of the engineeringresearch to the folks doing
more of the outreach andeducation and coordination, we
are all focused on improvingthose numbers as significantly
and drastically as we can. Sowhat makes me excited is the
fact that when I wake up, whenI come to work, I can make a
difference in the world. I cansave a life. And that's, I
think what gets everybody whoworks in pedestrian safety at
(27:54):
TTI excited to to do this work.
Bernie Fette (27:58):
We have been visiting with Ben Ettelman, an
associate research scientistand program manager at TTI.
Ben, thanks very much forsharing your time and insights
with us. We appreciate it.
Ben Ettelman (28:11):
Thank you, Bernie, for having me. I
appreciate it as always,
Bernie Fette (28:15):
People who navigate our transportation
systems on foot face dangersthat have been around for as
long as we've had automobiles.
In fact, the number ofpedestrians killed in motor
vehicle collisions has nearlydoubled since 2010. The reasons
for this deadly trend are many.
Experts point to the growingprevalence of trucks and SUVs
(28:38):
on the road, driverdistraction, and speeding. So,
while vehicles have becomesafer over the years, drivers
in many cases have not.
Strategies to address thisproblem encompass the full
range of engineering,education, and enforcement
actions. But at the center ofthe solution mix is the need
(29:02):
for transportation agencies andstakeholder groups to
collaborate -- because it's aproblem that's too big for any
single entity to tackle alone.
Thanks for listening. Pleasetake just a minute to give us a
review, subscribe and sharethis episode, and please join
(29:22):
us again next time for a visitwith Michael Berube, the Deputy
Assistant Secretary forSustainable Transportation and
Fuels at the U. S. Departmentof Energy. Thinking
Transportation is a productionof the Texas A&M Transportation
Institute, a member of theTexas A&M University system.
The show is edited and producedby Chris Pourteau. I'm your
(29:46):
writer and host, Bernie Fette,Thanks again for listening.
We'll see you next time.
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