U.S. Traffic Deaths Top 37,000; Pedestrian And Bicycle Deaths Hit Highs

The Right Way To Walk:
INTO traffic (not "with" traffic)

U.S. Traffic Deaths Top 37,000; Pedestrian And Bicycle Deaths Hit Highs

Consumer Reports

https://www.consumerreports.org/cars-driving/nhtsa-2016-highway-fatalities/

Alan: In 2016, pedestrian deaths hit their highest level since 1990: 5,987 people were killed -- a 9 percent increase from the previous year. (Several years ago, novelist Stephen King was nearly killed while walking on the side of the road.)

While pedestrian deaths have been rising for years, we now know that the chief reason for this ongoing statistical surge is that people no longer walk AGAINST traffic as they should, but "with traffic" which, in the absence of proper instruction, is a pedestrian's instinctual "default."

When pedestrians walk "with" traffic rather than "against" it, they are easily whacked from behind "without seeing what hit them." 

But when pedestrians walk "against" traffic (or "into" traffic), they can see approaching vehicles and have a chance to "jump" out of the way.

Elsewhere...

In 2016, 840 dead bicyclists set a record high.

And finally, I will note an ambulance driver's comment:  "When people die in an automobile accident, you can be almost certain they weren't wearing a seat belt." 

Tragically, many people who buckle up when riding in the front seat do not buckle up in the back. 

These unbuckled "back seaters" are three times more likely to die in an accident.