Pedestrian deaths high despite slow Portland streets
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Portlanders tend to drive more slowly on major pedestrian roads than other cities' drivers, which should make those streets safer for people on foot.
Yes, but: Portland's pedestrian deaths rose significantly in the past two years.
Why it matters: Cars are safer than ever for passengers thanks to new assisted driving technologies, but people outside vehicles are increasingly being hit and killed, Axios' Joann Muller reports.
Driving the news: The average speed findings are based on a report covering September and October 2022 from StreetLight Data, which tracks mobility trends using anonymized cellphone data and other sources.
- 42% of Portland's major pedestrian roads had average vehicle speeds under 25 mph, a higher percentage than most big American cities.
- 51% saw average speeds between 25 and 35 mph.
- On 7% of our pedestrian-heavy roads, drivers averaged over 35 mph.
Details: The group's objective was to understand how fast vehicles are actually going — not posted speed limits — and the impact on pedestrian safety, creating what it calls a "Safe Speed Index."
- Major pedestrian roads are streets with more than 200 pedestrians per day, per the study.
The intrigue: Pedestrian deaths in Portland increased from an average of 16 per year between 2018 and 2020, to 27 in 2021 and 28 in 2022, according to a report issued in March by Portland's Bureau of Transportation.
- A police count puts last year's numbers even higher, at 32 pedestrian fatalities — the highest since 1948. Police numbers include suicides, medical deaths and deaths more than 30 days after the crash, while PBOT's do not, police spokesperson Terri Wallo Strauss tells Axios.
- The increased deaths are despite the city lowering posted speed limits in residential neighborhoods five years ago, from 25 to 20 mph.
What they're saying: The March PBOT report notes that areas with higher speed limits account for a disproportionate amount of the 2022 traffic deaths, underscoring "the need to build safety improvements and reduce posted speeds."
Pedestrians are twice as likely to be killed in a collision when a car is traveling at 30 mph compared to 20 mph, and over five times more likely when the car is driving 40 mph, according to data from the AAA Foundation.
- Time of day matters too. Most pedestrian deaths occur at night; in Portland, 93% of pedestrian deaths last year happened under "darker conditions," according to PBOT.
- Over a third of pedestrians killed by vehicles in Portland last year were experiencing homelessness, the bureau said.
Zoom out: Oregon had 3.09 pedestrian fatalities per 100,000 residents in 2022 — up from 2.12 the previous year, according to a report from the Governors Highway Safety Association.
- That number puts Oregon among the deadliest states for pedestrians.