Cities Compete for New Federal Funds to Curb Rising Pedestrian Deaths

After decades of fewer pedestrians being killed in traffic crashes, the number has risen in the past several years, leading the Department of Transportation to warn of the dangers of walking while on drugs, drinking alcohol, or using a cellphone.
 
"Everyone in America is a pedestrian," Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said. "Every pedestrian death is one too many."
 
New York, Los Angeles and Chicago have the highest percentages of pedestrian fatalities of total motor vehicle deaths in the country, according to the department’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
 
The top 22 cities with pedestrian deaths far greater than the national average have until Aug. 30 to apply for a total of $2 million in pedestrian safety grants from the Department’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.