Some of the same behaviors that pose well-known dangers for drivers are contributing to a staggering rise in pedestrian fatalities. A new report from the Governors Highway Safety Association says drinking and distractions are two factors in a pedestrian death count that stands on the verge of surpassing 6000 people for the first time in more than two decades.
Based on preliminary numbers, the nonprofit organization says 5997 pedestrians were killed on U.S. roads in 2016. That represents an 11 percent year-over-year increase, the largest single-year spike in the four decades that federal records have been kept. The second-largest increase came one year earlier.
Over the past five years, pedestrian deaths have increased at four times the rate of overall traffic deaths, which are also sharply rising, a figure that has transportation officials and safety advocates sounding alarm bells and calling for reforms. ?Pedestrian fatalities in the U.S. are rising at an alarming and unprecedented rate,? said Richard Retting, the report?s author.
Since reaching a low of 4109 in the recession year of 2009, U.S. pedestrian fatalities have risen 45 percent, according to the GHSA figures. As the economy improves, Americans are driving more miles than ever?more than 3 trillion per year, according to the Federal Highway Administration, which explains part of the increase. But other factors are more troublesome.

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