By Vanessa Misciagna, ABC Action News
DENVER, Colo. — Jonathon Stalls knows the dangers of being a pedestrian in Denver. In the winter, he has to walk through mud and snow alongside busy streets.
“You have engineering that has long, long, been centering high-speed car traffic as the priority,” he said.
Jonathon became an advocate for safer streets after he walked across the entire country. He now documents what he says are fatal flaws in infrastructure that are a symptom of generations of prioritizing car travel on social media under the name “Pedestrian Dignity.”
The Governors Highway Safety Association says pedestrian traffic deaths have been rising steadily since 2010, increasing faster than all other kinds of traffic deaths. Last year, was a record-breaking year.
The association estimates that 7,485 pedestrians were killed last year, an 11.5% increase from 2020.
It fits into the larger picture of America’s unsafe roads. Nearly 43,000 people died on roads last year, a sharp 10.5% spike from 2020. About 17% of those deaths were pedestrians.
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