Texas is Using Technology to Curb High Pedestrian Fatality Rates – Route Fifty
By Chris Teale
Pedestrian traffic deaths nationwide dropped for the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to preliminary data released last month. But pedestrian deaths still remain at near historic highs, leaving many transportation officials and safety advocates searching for why the numbers have been climbing and what to do about it.
Some of the solutions are familiar: Reconfigure roads to slow down vehicles, repaint crosswalks or allow extra time for pedestrians to cross at stoplights. But many in the industry are looking beyond just infrastructure improvements and exploring how emerging technologies might make roads safer.
That’s the story in Texas, which has the second highest pedestrian fatality rates in the country, according to preliminary data from the Governors Highway Safety Administration.
