Why It Matters
Pedestrian safety remains a critical public health and law enforcement concern across the United States, and Alabama is among the states leading a significant national turnaround. A new report from the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) shows that pedestrian deaths fell at their steepest recorded rate in the first half of 2025, offering the clearest evidence yet that state-level policy changes and new road safety technology may be producing measurable results.
Despite the encouraging trend, fatality numbers remain above pre-pandemic baselines, keeping pressure on lawmakers, transportation agencies, and law enforcement officials to sustain and expand current safety measures.
What Happened
The GHSA released its findings on March 25, 2026, reporting that pedestrian fatalities in the United States dropped 11% during the first half of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. This marks the largest single-year decline since the organization began tracking pedestrian deaths 15 years ago.
Drivers struck and killed 3,024 people in the first six months of 2025, down from a higher total the prior year. Alabama was identified as one of five states that together accounted for more than two-thirds of the overall national decrease. California, Maryland, New Mexico, and New York were the other contributing states.
The GHSA report linked the improvement to a combination of legislative action and infrastructure upgrades adopted in recent years, including laws that place greater legal responsibility on drivers to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks and the deployment of new warning technologies at pedestrian crossings.
By the Numbers
- 3,024 pedestrian deaths were recorded in the first half of 2025, a decrease of 371 fatalities compared to the same period in 2024.
- Fatalities dropped in 23 states and increased in 24 states during the reporting period.
- Alabama, California, Maryland, New Mexico, and New York accounted for more than two-thirds of the total national reduction.
- New Mexico saw one of the sharpest state-level drops, falling from 53 deaths to 27 — nearly a 50% reduction — between the first halves of 2024 and 2025.
- The highest pedestrian death rates per 100,000 population were recorded in Hawaii (3.5), Louisiana (3.4), Florida, South Carolina, and Arizona (all 3.0). The lowest rates were in Idaho and Rhode Island (both 0.5), Minnesota, South Dakota (both 0.6), and Wisconsin (0.7).
Zoom Out
The 2025 decline arrives after a sustained and troubling rise in pedestrian fatalities that began during the COVID-19 pandemic. Traffic safety researchers have attributed that spike to a combination of increased speeding on emptier roads, distracted driving, and shifts in commuting behavior that persisted well after pandemic restrictions ended.
The GHSA report notes that while the 2025 figures are encouraging, pedestrian deaths remain above 2019 levels — the last year before dangerous driving behaviors surged nationally.
States have responded to the crisis in varying ways. New Mexico invested in crosswalk technology that activates flashing warning lights when a pedestrian steps off a curb, a system credited with contributing to its dramatic year-over-year decrease. Oregon and Washington implemented “stop and remain stopped” laws that place a clear legal obligation on drivers to yield completely to pedestrians, and both states have reported improved safety outcomes as a result.
Hawaii, which recorded one of the highest pedestrian death rates per capita in early 2025 — with fatalities jumping from 16 to 25 year-over-year — is now considering similar legislation. A bill introduced in February would require drivers in Hawaii to stop and stay stopped for pedestrians in crosswalks, with the state Department of Transportation citing the Oregon and Washington models as evidence of the policy’s effectiveness.
What’s Next
Hawaii’s crosswalk legislation is currently moving through the state House, with written testimony from the state Department of Transportation already on record in support. A vote timeline has not been confirmed.
Nationally, the GHSA is expected to continue monitoring second-half 2025 data to determine whether the early-year decline holds through the full calendar year. Advocates and transportation officials are urging states that saw fatality increases in the first half of 2025 to assess their enforcement and infrastructure strategies.
For Alabama and the other states that drove the 2025 improvement, continued attention to enforcement, road design, and driver education will be critical to sustaining the progress and closing the remaining gap with pre-pandemic safety levels.