Arizona’s culture of fast and distracted driving contributes to pedestrian death rate, expert argues

PHOENIX — Arizona is working to cut down pedestrian crashes and fatalities, with recent changes across the Valley such as the implementation of high-intensity activated crosswalks (HAWK).

The Arizona Department of Transportation reported the state had 2,079 crashes with 263 fatalities (12.7%) in 2024. Arizona’s deaths accounted for 3.8% of the national total for the year, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association.

The 263 fatalities were the lowest mark in the state since 2021 (257). Pedestrian deaths were between 131 and 161 each year from 2010 to 2015 and between 193 and 245 the following five years before the recent spike, which peaked in 2022 (302).

AAA spokesman Julian Paredes told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Arizona’s Morning News that avenues to further improvement in the state must factor in its uniquely large and spread-out population in the metro Phoenix area.

“Arizona is bigger, it’s more spread out, there is a culture of driving fast, so whatever solution happens needs to be very specific to Arizona,” Paredes said. “And really there’s a lot of little stuff, like even just limiting distractions on your phone … that’s really the big thing. No amount of infrastructure changes is going to keep the driver from being focused on the road.”

He added there’s an element of self-reflection that can be key to getting people to change their approaches to driving, which starts with thinking through worst-case scenarios.

“People are always going to be in a rush to get to wherever they’re going. But if you kind of think back to maybe that last emergency situation where you’re on the road and think about how things can go wrong so quickly,” Paredes said. “I think that’s probably a key motivator when it comes to just slowing down and being safe. It’s just thinking about what could go wrong and is it really worth rushing? Is it worth speeding when this data shows that pedestrian deaths are really high right now?

“There’s a lot of danger out there on the road. Is it worth getting to work maybe a little bit earlier, risking your life and risking everybody else’s life? It’s really not and that’s probably something that we could all do is just slow down just a little bit.”

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