Deadly crashes involving cars, pedestrians on rise across country, study finds
Deadly pedestrian accidents are on the rise nationwide, according to a new study released early Tuesday morning.
Pedestrian deaths have jumped 46 percent since reaching a low point in 2009, according to the study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The organization looked at pedestrian crashes between 2009 and 2016.
Researchers found that most of the crashes happen on busy roads in urban and suburban areas, and they're mostly happening away from intersections, usually at parts of the road where people don't have crosswalks. The crashes also usually happen with it's dark outside.
Researchers say deadly crashes involving SUVs increased 80 percent, which was a bigger increase than for any other type of vehicle.
"SUVs have higher, and often more vertical, designs, which results in them striking a pedestrian in the head or chest area," said IIHS President David Harkey. "Changing the front-end design of SUVs could result in lowering the risks of hurting a pedestrian when they are struck."
IIHS also said crash prevention technology in cars, better headlights and better roadway lighting could help reduce the number of pedestrian crashes. The IIHS also recommended enforcing speed limits with speed cameras.
