By
Image Source: Adobe Stock
When residents cross the street, they rarely think about how they’re risking their lives — and yet, often, that’s exactly what’s happening. In the first half of 2025, drivers killed 3,024 pedestrians on streets throughout the nation.
It’s enough to get the attention of elected officials and engineers in cities and towns who recognize safety as a priority in their communities.
“It’s about saving lives,” said David L. Anderson, a Councilman in Dover, Delaware. “We really want to see what we can do in a smart way to make our streets safer for people.”
Delaware averages a pedestrian-related crash every day, with the number of deaths rising 80% from 2009 to 2023, but other cities are more dangerous for people walking along the roads. Memphis, Tennessee, Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Tucson, Arizona, top the list of metropolitan areas with the highest fatality rates.
Image Source: Adobe Stock
In fact, anywhere in the United States where pedestrians, bicyclists, and cars share space presents risks. Pedestrian safety isn’t a simple problem to solve — something Councilman Anderson learned recently.
Despite his collaboration with the Dover Police Department, a pedestrian safety proposal he presented to the council recently failed to pass. Part of the plan included creating a legal framework to keep people from standing too long in roadway medians. Some members of the community interpreted it as a means of criminalizing homelessness, and the majority of the council voted against the measure.
“We’ll bring it back,” he said. “It’s an important issue, because people are getting hurt.”
In fact, anywhere in the United States where pedestrians, bicyclists, and cars share space presents risks. Pedestrian safety isn’t a simple problem to solve — something Councilman Anderson learned recently.
Despite his collaboration with the Dover Police Department, a pedestrian safety proposal he presented to the council recently failed to pass. Part of the plan included creating a legal framework to keep people from standing too long in roadway medians. Some members of the community interpreted it as a means of criminalizing homelessness, and the majority of the council voted against the measure.
“We’ll bring it back,” he said. “It’s an important issue, because people are getting hurt.”
Work Collaboratively to Find Solutions
A secret to better pedestrian safety, like most things in government, is collaboration. In Philadelphia, the Vision Zero strategy includes the creation of a task force consisting of elected officials and city department heads. They meet quarterly and offer direction to five subcommittees that implement the specific elements of the work.
Collaboration is important for funding, too. The city highlights partnerships when applying for state and federal grant opportunities, including revenue from speed camera tickets funneled through the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
Image Source: Adobe Stock
Councilman Anderson said they’ve had to fund many traffic-calming improvements through the general coffers. In past years, they received more than $1 million in state grants, he said.
Investments in new infrastructure, as well as new proposals for speed reductions, are easier with community approval, Mr. Gorini said. He recommends that community leaders looking to implement a Vision Zero strategy start by listening to residents and prioritizing the most dangerous areas.
“Community input was critical,” he explained. “We had a 12-month outreach process with 80 community groups in total to dig into the types of tactics and strategies that the city could use in the next five years,” he said. “We also did ground truthing with a market research study with 2,000 Philadelphia residents polled.”
While people recognize the problem of pedestrian safety concerns, it still requires a focused effort from many government agencies and support from elected officials to keep pedestrians safe.
“Our goal is to eliminate serious deaths by 2050,” Mr. Gorini said. “We want to get there even faster.”
