Fatal Pedestrian Accidents in Minnesota
The population of Minnesota as of 2015 was 5,489,594 people. Ten years earlier in 2005, the recorded population was more than 300,000 people lower, at 5,132,799 individuals. Finally, in 2010 that population was recorded at 5,303,925 people. When you compare these numbers, you are able to determine that the population has been growing consistently over the past ten years.
Most crashes are 100 percent preventable, and many states are working diligently to lower the number of people who die every year. In Minnesota, we have employed many strategies, including drunk driving campaigns, tougher enforcement of speed laws, and seat belt safety campaigns. While the population has been increasing, the rate of fatal accidents and the numbers of those who die in them have remained stubbornly similar over the past decade.
Below are the statistics that show the number of accidents, deaths, and deaths per 100,000 people over the past 10 years. When you compare these statistics, you find that the number of accidents and deaths have decreased even though the population of Minnesota has been steadily increasing over time.
- 2005, 500 accidents/559 deaths, or 10.9 people per 100,000
- 2007, 458 accidents/504 deaths, or 9.7 people per 100,000
- 2009, 371 accidents/421 deaths, or 8.0 people per 100,000
- 2010, 364 accidents/411 deaths, or 7.7 people per 100,000
- 2011, 334 accidents/368 deaths, or 6.9 people per 100,000
- 2013, 357 accidents/387 deaths, or 7.1 people per 100,000
- 2015, 375 accidents/411 deaths, or 7.5 people per 100,000
People walking and jogging along the roadway or who are waiting at bus stops beside the road are extremely vulnerable to injury and death in traffic accidents. Yet, every year across the state dozens are killed by motor vehicles. In fact, in 2015, 39 pedestrians were killed in accidents, accounting for nine percent of the total number of crash fatalities that year. In 2010, 35 pedestrians were killed, accounting for nine percent of the total, and in 2005, 44 pedestrians died, accounting for eight percent of the total number of fatalities. These statistics show that much more needs to be done to protect the lives of these most vulnerable road users.