Reps. Sykes, Carey Unveil Bipartisan Legislation To Improve Pedestrian Safety
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Representatives Emilia Sykes (OH-13) and Mike Carey (OH-15) recently introduced the Save Our Pedestrians Act, bipartisan legislation to help fund the building of new sidewalks to improve pedestrian safety in rural, urban, and suburban communities.
“As more pedestrians are injured and killed while walking in crosswalks and on streets without sidewalks, the need to find commonsense solutions to allow people to move around our neighborhoods without fear is critical to the quality of life in our communities,” said Rep. Sykes. “I’m proud to work alongside Congressman Carey to co-lead the Save Our Pedestrians Act, which will require states to set aside federal dollars to make our roads safer for everyone—from pedestrians to motorists. This bipartisan, commonsense legislation will reduce accidents and save lives in Ohio’s 13th District and across the country.”
“The Columbus metro region has seen an explosion in population growth, but unfortunately our transportation and pedestrian infrastructure has not kept up,” said Rep. Carey. “Our legislation will make our roadways safer for children and families by redesigning crosswalks, roundabouts, sidewalks, and other infrastructure.”
The Save Our Pedestrians Act of 2024 requires that five percent of all funding appropriated to states through the Highway Safety Improvement Program be used for projects that reduce the number of injuries and fatalities at high-risk pedestrian crossings.
More than 8,000 pedestrians have been killed by motor vehicles on America’s roadways since 2011, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is the equivalent of about one death every 66 minutes.
This problem has only increased over time. Pedestrian deaths have increased by 77% since 2010, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association.
In January 2024, the Akron Metropolitan Area Transportation Study (AMATS) released its latest analysis from 2020-2022, identifying the region's most dangerous roads and intersections. The report noted that the number of both pedestrian and bicycle crashes increased each year from 2020-2022. One hundred eighty-nine bicycle-related crashes occurred in 2020, 2021 and 2022, 174 of them or 92% resulted in an injury and three of them in a fatality. There were 352 pedestrian-related crashes in this same time-period with 312 or 88.6% of them resulting in an injury and 24 of them in a fatality. Pedestrians accounted for over 13% of all fatalities that occurred between 2020 and 2022.
The full bill text can be found here.