HARTFORD, Conn. — This year has been the deadliest for pedestrians in Connecticut since the late 1980s, according to most recent Department of Transportation data.
There have been 69 pedestrian fatalities in the state this year as of Dec. 23, the most on record since the 76 recorded in 1988, DOT data said. The data is preliminary and subject to change, according to DOT spokesperson Shannon King. Connecticut had 61 reported in 2021, but previously had not broken the 60 mark since 1994, when 63 were recorded.
There has also been a five-year high in fatal crashes this year with 323 through Dec. 12, which is 34 more than last year’s 289 in a full year and the only year in the last five to break 300.
Despite the high number of pedestrian fatalities and fatal crashes, the total number of crashes has been fairly low in 2022 in comparison to previous years. There were more than 84,000 crashes from the start of the year through Dec. 12, which is about 16,000 less than in 2021. There were more than 111,000 crashes each year from 2015 to 2019, DOT data said.
King told the Hartford Courant in November that driving behavior worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic and has not improved. There have been increases in distracted, impaired and wrong-way driving, she said.
“The message that we’ve been talking about over the last couple of months is that drivers really need to pay attention,” King said. “Stay alert on the road, put down their cellphones, reduce distractions, and of course, never drive impaired, or when they’re unable to drive safely.”
King said the department has seen an uptick in drivers who are hit while outside their vehicle on the side of the road while handling a vehicle issue.
She advised drivers to pull off the roadway and onto the shoulder away from traffic, then stay inside of their vehicles with their seat belts buckled. In this case, if the vehicle is struck while the driver is pulled over they have more protection than they would out in the open.
“Cars are incredibly safe these days and they are built to withstand impact, whereas when you are outside of your vehicle, you have no protection, it’s just you,” King said.
DOT also recommends drivers place their hazard lights on in this situation so other drivers can see them and give them room.
In the case there is fire or fumes coming from the vehicle, the department recommends drivers get as far away from the vehicle as possible, King said.
As the days get shorter and nights get longer in the winter, there are more pedestrian deaths statistically. The winter months have been the deadliest for pedestrians, DOT data said.
Combining the totals for each month from 2016 to 2022, there were at least 40 combined deaths in October, November, December and January. No other month had more than 30 combined.
“When you’re talking about driving during these winter months, during the holidays, especially in the evening, when people are traveling for the holidays, that’s just even more even more reason to slow down,” King said. “Take your time, reduce the distractions.”
King said it is “even more imperative” that drivers are alert and reduce distractions with the two holiday weekends.
“A lot of people are traveling for the holidays,” King said. “So there’s going to be increased volume on the roadways and traffic. So really, this is the time for drivers to be even more alert and aware when they’re traveling through Connecticut or outside of Connecticut.”
King also suggested drivers prepare or purchase an emergency kit to keep in their vehicles. She also recommended drivers visit ctroads.org, which has an up-to-date map of the road and traffic conditions throughout the state.
Pedestrian deaths that took place between 2016 to 2020 happened most frequently between 6 and 9 p.m., with more than 85 deaths in that time frame, data said. No other three-hour period of the day eclipsed 50 deaths.
“The increase in fatalities, yes, it’s happening from 6 to 9 p.m., but it’s been getting dark from 6 to 9 p.m. throughout history,” said Connecticut Rep. Roland Lemar, co-chair of the legislature’s Transportation Committee. “It’s only the last few years that we’ve seen this remarkable increase.”
Lemar, a Democrat representing New Haven, said this increase has “much more to do with” the increasing size of vehicles, faster average speeds on state roadways and easier access to technology in vehicles than it does pedestrian behaviors. He said he does not think the solution lies with educating pedestrians but with improving driver behavior.
Lemar said he was not surprised to see the data reflect a 34-year high in pedestrian fatalities. Sen. Will Haskell, co-chair of the Transportation Committee, agreed, saying, “We definitely have a problem.
“We’ve seen this trend line emerge in both Connecticut and nationally over the last few years,” Lemar said. “And my worry is for all of the work we’ve begun in Connecticut, we are still years behind making the types of improvements necessary to sufficiently curtail what we’re seeing on our roadways.”
While she did not know of any specific projects to increase nighttime visibility on state roadways, King said the department always has safety “at the top of our mind” for each project they work on, including pedestrian safety.
Connecticut has a history of passing traffic laws. It was the first state in the country to pass a law establishing speed limits back in 1901, when motor vehicles were restricted to 12 mph in cities and 15 mph on country roads. The law also required the driver to reduce speed at roadway crossings and when faced with a horse in the road, according to ConnecticutHistory.org, an organization partially funded by the state and federal U.S. Department of Education.
The state legislature passed a bill during the 2021 legislative session that declared the state’s desire to eliminate all roadway fatalities and injuries to travelers and pedestrians alike.
The bill established the Vision Zero Council to develop the approach, which will return their initial recommendations to the legislature at the beginning of 2023, Lemar said.
“The council shall consider ways to improve safety across all modes of transportation by using data, new partnerships, safe planning and community-based solutions to achieve the goal of zero transportation-related fatalities,” the bill said.
The bill put some measures in place to allow towns’ legislative bodies to adjust local speed limits and establish pedestrian safety zones. Lemar said he is not sure if any Connecticut municipalities have fully completed the process to change speed limits. He said it is too early in the process to determine the impact of the new traffic laws.
It also gives pedestrians the right of way in more scenarios, Haskell, a Democrat representing Westport, said. Drivers are now required to yield to pedestrians in more areas of the state, he said. The bill also makes “dooring” illegal, which is when a driver throws a door open into the path of a cyclist coming down the road, and increases fines for certain moving violations like reckless driving and speeding.
Lemar suggested that further legislative action may be required if driver behaviors do not improve. The state is going to be testing a speed enforcement camera on highways this upcoming year, he said. This is a pilot program that has been done in other states, like Maryland and Pennsylvania.
Haskell said the Transportation Committee has long been focused on motor vehicle transportation but has looked at multi-modal transportation much more in recent years.
“We have got to really center multi-modal transit, whether it’s bike, pedestrian, folks utilizing transit more frequently,” Lemar added. “We have to think through how to make our roadways safer for all users.”
