October and November are the most dangerous months for pedestrians

TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) - As the temperatures cool down and days become shorter, fall is the most dangerous time of the year for pedestrians on the roads.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in Arizona the latest data shows from 2017-2021, 114 people have been killed in the month of October, and 113 people in November.

Organizations in Tucson like Living Streets Alliance work to slow people down in our neighborhoods. They have what they call block parties where they decorate streets, put in roundabouts, make barriers, all to keep people safe.

“In order to drive and have good behavior we really need to be designing streets that generate that good behavior because people will always make mistakes, we all make mistakes but they don’t have to be deadly,” Director of Strategic Policy and Practice at Living Streets Alliance Evren Sönmez said.

Tucson Police says there’s a number of reasons why more people generally get hit in October and November. Some of those include the weather the cooling down, meaning more people are getting outside, it’s darker longer, but what it really comes down to speeding and distracted driving.

“Looking at all of these crashes, almost 100% of them were avoidable,” public information officer for Tucson Police Frank Magos said. ”The biggest tip we can give you is give yourself extra time and extra patience. Leading into the holiday season we’re going to see more pedestrians and more vehicle traffic on our roadways so give yourself more time and more patience as well.

TPD says their traffic enforcement efforts are also picking up, traffic watch is up to nearly 700 reports since starting earlier this year.

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