New Mexico is #1 in pedestrian and bicycling deaths

Safety
1

Weighing strongly against New Mexico is a high percentage of fatal
drunken driving crashes, and a No. 1 ranking in pedestrian and
bicycling deaths.

New Mexico racked up 74 pedestrian and five bicyclist
fatalities, for a combined rate of 3.8 per 100,000 population

We’re #1! We’re #1!

2

In my place of residence I could get a DUI on a bicycle, but making the assumption the drivers of the cars are over the limit. ,

3

NM has sort of a lot of wide open country there, so maybe being a pedestrian in NM isn’t that practical. B/c there are so few of them, the pedestrians don’t know how to behave safely, add to that the drivers aren’t used to seeing pedestrians much. You’d think there would be quite a few bicyclists tho, NM seems a friendly bicycling place. But maybe that’s only in the resort areas like Taos. Other places, drivers aren’t expecting to see bicyclists.

I know from my own experience that being a pedestrian or a bicyclist in Colorado 30 years ago was considerably less safe than where I live in Calif now, for those reasons. The drivers there just weren’t expecting to see me in either of those roles on the highway. Some of the older drivers were actually hostile to a pedestrian or a bicyclist even being near the roadway and bothering them. Probably less so now of course.

4

Car Talk Lackey

Pedestrian motor vehicle crash deaths have declined dramatically since 1975 but still account for 15 percent of crash deaths. The rates of pedestrian deaths in motor vehicle crashes per 100,000 people are highest for people ages 70 and older.

Pedestrian deaths occur primarily in urban areas. Engineering measures that separate vehicles and pedestrians such as sidewalks, refuge islands, overpasses and underpasses, and barriers can reduce the problem. Increased illumination, improved signal timing at intersections, and beacons that alert drivers to stop at crosswalks when pedestrians are present also can be effective.

It’s getting more dangerous for school-age children and teens to walk to school.
www.wsj.com/...pedestrian-deaths.../63E53E9B-07C2-49C0-A08D-E3CC5

Other discussions and stats at:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/.../pedestrian-fatalities.../story.html

https://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/pedestrian_safety/

https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/81096

State info:
www.ghsa.org/files/pubs/spotlights/spotlight_ped2015.pdf