Among so many things Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tells us, is that almost half of pedestrian fatalities in the United States involves alcohol. Of those, 70 percent involved an impaired pedestrian, not so much the driver.
A friend recently returned back from a night of partying along Austin’s infamous”Sixth Street” and had not so glowing reviews.
“We were terrified,” he said. “Never again. It was as if we were in a zombie movie with all the whacked-out homeless and gang activity around. We saw one guy get hit by a car. Austin is not the fun place it used to be. Beggars and thugs everywhere.”
In what many Texans call the “Armpit” of the Lone Star State, Austin’s left-wing city council reversed a longstanding policy in July 2019 establishing where their growing homeless were allowed to sit, lie down, passout or “camp” on public spaces such as sidewalks, rights-of-way, and city parks.
Rapidly, Austin became one huge homeless encampment. It was so bad that a majority of the city’s Democrat voters voted for a ballot initiative to overturn the ordinance in May 2021.
When the Austin Police Department began reporting how traffic deaths had increased to a four year high, it turned out that 41% were pedestrian deaths.
●In 2019, 19 of 36 pedestrians killed that year were homeless.
●Pedestrian fatalities rose again in 2020.
●By 2021, 45 pedestrians were killed.
● In 2022, Austin recorded another increase, ending the year with 50.
Now matter how much the far-left progressive city council cracked down on the police department reporting facts, the truth remained.
Meanwhile, these government officials patted themselves on the back for the erection of a pedestrian crossing barrier on I-35. Now they are up to about one death per week.
During Covid-19 lockdowns, vehicle miles driven across the US, dropped by almost 13 percent at one point in 2020. However, the number of pedestrians ages 18 to 85+ unintentionally killed by vehicles rose from 6,359 in 2019 to 6,682 in 2020 for a rate of 2.6 per 100,000.
2020 recorded the highest number and rate of adult pedestrian deaths ever.
Thankfully, the number of child fatalities ages 0 to 14 saw no meaningful statistical change in 2020 compared to 2019, with 235 dying for a rate of 0.39 per 100,000 vs. 228 in 2019.
Compared to 2000, the rate of adults being killed by vehicles increased by 39 percent while the rate of children ages 0 to 14 being killed fell by 56 percent.
The Governors Highway Safety Association has noted pedestrian deaths are increasing nationally; pedestrian traffic deaths increased by 54% between 2010 and 2020.
Texas saw the third-most pedestrian deaths in 2021, behind California and Florida, respectively.
Back in Texas, there were 5,366 crashes involving pedestrians in 2021:
● 841 deaths, a 15 percent increase in pedestrian fatalities over the previous year.
●Another 1,470 people were seriously injured.
IN GOD WE TRUST
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Those Sixth Street photos remind me of Pottersville in It’s A Wonderful Life.” The death tally for pedestrians is sobering (not being funny, really) That’s a lot of people. We’ve had four in this area I know of, spread out over years.
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Pottersville is a good analogy
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