If you are like many people in Connecticut, you happily welcome the arrival of spring and summer. Through these seasons, being outside even for short periods of time, can be quite enjoyable and freeing after the cold, winter months.
Unfortunately, pedestrians in Connecticut must always remain aware of the risks that sharing the roads with vehicles brings. Even when following all laws, staying in crosswalks and more, people on foot are at a disadvantage compared to people in vehicles.
Pedestrian fatalities across the state
According to records from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, pedestrian fatalities increased dramatically throughout the state during the decade spanning 2009 through 2018. In 2009, 26 pedestrians were killed in automobile accidents. These people represented 11.6% of all people killed in vehicle crashes in Connecticut that year.
In 2018, the number of pedestrians who died in collisions with vehicles jumped to 60. That year, one out of every five people killed in motor vehicle accidents was a pedestrian.
Pedestrian fatalities in each county
Every county across the state struggles with keeping pedestrians safe but some appear to experience greater issues than others. Between 2014 and 2018, New Haven County recorded more pedestrian deaths than any other Connecticut county. There, 74 people on foot lost their lives in those five years. Close behind New Haven County were Fairfield County and Hartford County, where 71 pedestrians and 66 pedestrians died during the same five years, respectively.
New London, Litchfield, Middlesex, Windham and Tolland Counties each recorded fewer than 15 pedestrian deaths between 2014 and 2018. Only Windham and Tolland Counties recorded no pedestrian deaths for a single year.
