New Mexico boasts a sunny climate with amazing geography to explore, making it an ideal place for people who love the outdoors. Unfortunately, being a pedestrian comes with more than its fair share of risks. Too many drivers regard foot traffic as an inconvenience and do not take precautions to yield to pedestrians. Even the simple act of walking from a parked car into a building puts a person at risk of being hit by a car.
Records from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show that pedestrian fatalities have increased in New Mexico while overall motor vehicle fatalities have declined. That means the percentage of vehicular fatalities involving pedestrians is on the rise.
Between 2014 and 2016, pedestrians accounted for 18% to 19% of all traffic deaths statewide. In 2017, that increased to 19.7%. In 2018, pedestrians accounted for 21.2% of all people killed in automobile accidents. Bernalillo County leads the state by far with the most pedestrian fatalities. Between 2014 and 2018, 145 people on foot died in crashes. The two counties in the state number of pedestrian deaths closest to those in Bernalillo County were San Juan and McKinley Counties, with 46 and 43 pedestrian fatalities, respectively.
If you would like to learn more about how you or someone you know can get help from someone qualified to advocate on their behalf, please feel free to visit the pedestrian injury and fatality page of our website.
