Early Data Suggests Pedestrian Deaths Surged In 2015

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Early data from states suggest pedestrian safety is a growing national problem.

The Governors Highway Safety Association analyzed data from the first half of 2015 and found there were 2,368 pedestrians killed, compared to 2,232 during the same period in 2014 -- a 10 percent increase. It's the highest number since 1996.

Florida had the most fatalities per capita, WCBS 880's Marla Diamond reported.

The report found pedestrian deaths surged as the economy improved and the price of gas plunged, resulting in motorists putting more miles behind the wheel than ever before.

The growing use of cellphones distracting drivers and walkers may also be partially to blame for the increase in pedestrian fatalities. Health considerations may also be encouraging people to walk more.

Walking his dogs along 57th Street in Manhattan, resident Chris McKean said he's not at all surprised that more and more pedestrians are being killed.

"People are just not paying attention," McKean told Diamond. "They are just looking at their phones, clogging up the sidewalks and I think it's a real problem."

"People are on their cellphones, people talking, they don't pay attention when people are walking back and forth," Rhonda Jackson of the Bronx said.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's "Vision Zero" initiative has sought to calm traffic and reduce fatalities through public education and lower speed limits.

Pedestrian fatalities account for 15 percent of total traffic deaths, which are also rising, the report found.

Researchers said there are usually more deaths in the second half of the year, which includes the summer months.

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