Summer means more people outside. Kids are out of school, families are traveling, and sidewalks, parks, and entertainment districts tend to stay busy well into the evening. With more people walking and more vehicles on the road, the chances of a serious pedestrian crash can increase.
While the season is often associated with vacations and outdoor activities, it also coincides with one of the most dangerous times of year for people on foot.
Recent national data offers a mixed picture. Pedestrian fatalities have finally begun to decline after years of increases, yet thousands of people are still killed while walking each year.
To better understand where those risks are highest, H&P Law reviewed federal traffic safety data, pedestrian fatality records, and summer crash trends spanning the last decade. The findings reveal significant differences from one state to the next, with some states recording pedestrian fatality rates several times higher than others during the summer months.
Entering Summer’s 100 Deadliest Days
The period between Memorial Day and Labor Day is often referred to as the “100 Deadliest Days” because of the increased risks facing drivers and pedestrians alike. Roads become busier, tourism activity increases, and younger drivers spend more time behind the wheel while school is out.
Pedestrian Deaths Remain High Despite Recent Improvements
There are signs that pedestrian fatalities may finally be moving in the right direction. According to preliminary national data, drivers struck and killed 3,024 people walking in the United States during the first six months of 2025. That represents a 10.9% decrease from the same period a year earlier and the largest annual decline recorded since the Governors Highway Safety Association began tracking pedestrian fatality trends.
The decline in 2025 came after another year of improvement in 2024, when 7,148 pedestrians were killed nationwide, a 4.3% decrease from the previous year. Regardless, these improvements have not brought numbers down to the levels recorded just ten years ago; on average, pedestrian fatalities are still 20% higher compared to 2016.
The national numbers also mask very different trends from state to state. During the first half of 2025, pedestrian fatalities increased in 24 states, declined in 23 states and Washington, D.C., and remained unchanged in three others. Large reductions in California, Maryland, New Mexico, New York, and Alabama helped drive the overall decline, while other states moved in the opposite direction.
The Economic Cost Extends Far Beyond the Crash
The human toll of a fatal pedestrian crash is impossible to capture in a spreadsheet, but the financial impact is staggering, as well. The Governors Highway Safety Association estimates that pedestrian deaths during the first six months of 2025 generated more than $40 billion in economic and societal costs.
This is only a part of the cost. Loss of earnings, legal fees, insurance costs, public services, and the family’s suffering are also involved in the calculation. According to federal cost-benefit models, each pedestrian death comes at a cost of about $13.2 million to society.
More Young Drivers on the Road
The “100 Deadliest Days” is so named largely because of what happens when school lets out and more inexperienced drivers take to the road.
Safety organizations have found that fatal crashes involving teen drivers increase during the summer months. According to the CDC, teen drivers are roughly three times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash during this period than at other times of the year. At the same time, more people are walking to parks, restaurants, community events, and vacation destinations, increasing the number of interactions between vehicles and pedestrians.
For pedestrians, that means increased exposure to a larger number of inexperienced drivers at the same time foot traffic is rising. Parks, entertainment districts, shopping areas, and residential neighborhoods all see more activity during the summer months, creating more opportunities for vehicle-pedestrian conflicts.
Why Summer Can Be Especially Dangerous for Pedestrians
Pedestrian crashes rarely occur because of a single factor. More often, multiple risks overlap simultaneously. Summer tends to amplify many of those risks.
Speed Leaves Little Margin for Error
Speed remains one of the most important factors influencing whether a pedestrian survives a crash.
Research from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that the average risk of death reaches 10% at an impact speed of 23 mph. At 42 mph, that risk rises to 50%. By 58 mph, the average likelihood of death reaches 90%.
Those numbers help explain why roadway design matters so much. In many communities, pedestrians routinely cross wide arterial roads where traffic speeds exceed what safety experts consider survivable in the event of a collision.
Summer can make the problem worse. Increased travel, tourism, and recreational traffic often place more vehicles on roads already carrying heavy volumes.
Alcohol Impairment Affects Drivers and Pedestrians
Alcohol is a factor in a significant share of pedestrian fatalities nationwide. Federal data shows that 29% of pedestrians age 16 and older who were killed in crashes had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08% or higher. Another 16% of fatal pedestrian crashes involved an impaired driver.
Summer can create more situations where impairment becomes part of the equation. Outdoor festivals, sporting events, holiday gatherings, and nightlife activity tend to increase during the warmer months, putting more impaired drivers and pedestrians near busy roads.
Between 2015 and 2024, 1,531 pedestrians were killed during the summer months in crashes involving a pedestrian under the influence of drugs, alcohol, or medication. California recorded the highest total, followed by Texas, North Carolina, Arizona, South Carolina, and Colorado.
Hit-and-Run Crashes Remain a Persistent Problem
One in four pedestrian deaths now involves a hit-and-run crash. In 2024 alone, 1,749 pedestrian fatalities involved a hit-and-run driver. Over the last five years, roughly 25% of all pedestrian deaths have occurred in crashes where a driver fled the scene.
The problem becomes even more concerning when looking specifically at summer months. Between June and August from 2015 through 2024, there were 3,407 pedestrian fatalities involving hit-and-run crashes.
California recorded 566 of those fatalities, followed by Texas with 421 and Florida with 261. Arizona, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Michigan, Georgia, and Tennessee rounded out the states with the highest totals.
The Danger Often Increases After Dark
Many pedestrian fatalities occur under low-light conditions. Erin Breen, director of UNLV’s Road Equity Alliance, has noted that at least three-quarters of pedestrian fatalities occur between dusk and dawn. As daylight patterns shift later in the year, those risks can become even more pronounced.
“It’s ten fewer lives lost, but we’ve still lost far too many pedestrians,” Breen said when discussing recent pedestrian fatality trends in Nevada.
The observation underscores an important point. Even when fatality numbers move in the right direction, the risks that contribute to many pedestrian deaths remain very much present.
Arizona and Delaware Stand Out for Different Reasons
Arizona ranked fourth nationally with a summer pedestrian fatality rate of 6.94 per 100,000 residents. The state has experienced rapid population growth over the last decade, particularly in metro areas where large arterial roads and increasing traffic volumes create challenges for both drivers and pedestrians.
Delaware ranked close behind with a summer pedestrian fatality rate of 5.89. Despite its smaller population, the state recorded a higher rate than several much larger states, including California, Texas, and New York.
Taken together, the rankings suggest pedestrian risk is not strictly tied to population size. Some of the highest fatality rates in the country were recorded in states that rarely appear among the leaders in overall traffic deaths.
Nevada’s Summer Ranking
Nevada ranked 14th overall with a summer pedestrian fatality rate of 5.17 per 100,000 residents.
The state fell outside the national top ten, but summer fatality rates climbed noticeably later in the season. Nevada ranked among the ten most dangerous states during both July and August, with August producing the highest pedestrian fatality rate of any summer month in the state.
That pattern reflects a broader national trend. August recorded more pedestrian-involved fatal crashes than either June or July, making it the deadliest month of the summer nationwide.
Where Fatality Rates Were Lowest
Several Midwestern and Northeastern states consistently recorded the lowest summer pedestrian fatality rates in the country.
Minnesota ranked as the safest state in the analysis with a rate of 1.73 per 100,000 residents. Idaho, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Massachusetts, Iowa, Rhode Island, Vermont, Nebraska, and Wisconsin also appeared near the bottom of the rankings.
The difference between the top-and bottom-ranked states was significant. The rate of pedestrian fatalities in New Mexico during the summer months was over five times greater than in Minnesota, emphasizing the great difference in pedestrian safety environments throughout the nation.
Cities and Counties With High Pedestrian Fatalities
Statewide rankings provide a broad picture of pedestrian safety, but fatalities are often concentrated within a relatively small number of cities and counties. Looking at local data helps identify where pedestrians face the greatest risks and where the largest numbers of deaths occur.
Memphis Leads Major Cities
Of the cities whose population was greater than 350,000, Memphis stood out as the most lethal city for pedestrians. From 2015 to 2024, there were 430 pedestrian fatalities in Memphis and a death rate of 69.5 deaths per 100,000 residents.
The second-most dangerous city was Albuquerque at 62.5, followed by Tucson, Phoenix, Detroit, New Orleans, Tampa, Atlanta, Miami, and Dallas. A number of these cities that featured high rankings were found in the South and Southwest regions.
Roadways With the Highest Number of Pedestrian Fatalities
The analysis also identified several roadways that appeared repeatedly in fatal pedestrian crash data. Major highways and urban corridors accounted for a significant share of fatalities, particularly in fast-growing metro areas where heavy traffic volumes and pedestrian activity regularly intersect.
The roadways appearing most often in the rankings were spread across multiple regions of the country, from large urban centers to rapidly developing suburban communities.
Counties Driving a Disproportionate Share of Fatalities
Pedestrian fatalities were similarly concentrated at the county level.
Several of the counties appearing near the top of the rankings include some of the country’s largest metropolitan areas, where high traffic volumes and large populations create more opportunities for pedestrian-vehicle collisions.
Nevada’s Summer Pedestrian Safety Challenges
Nevada ranked 14th nationally in summer pedestrian fatality rate. Between June and August from 2015 through 2024, Nevada recorded 826 fatal collisions. Of those crashes, 169 involved a pedestrian, and 161 pedestrians lost their lives.
Although Nevada did not figure among the top ten states nationally, pedestrian fatalities continue to be an issue, especially in the southern region of Nevada.
Clark County Continues to Drive Statewide Totals
Much of Nevada’s pedestrian fatality burden falls on Clark County.
Las Vegas recorded 38 pedestrian-involved fatalities in the summer months during the study period, more than any other city in the state. Reno recorded 17 during the same period, while other Nevada communities experienced significantly lower totals.
The county-level data included in this analysis reflects fatalities across all months rather than only summer months, but it provides important context for understanding where pedestrian deaths remain most concentrated. Historically, Clark County has accounted for roughly two-thirds of Nevada’s traffic fatalities and as much as 85% of pedestrian deaths statewide.
Early Signs of Improvement
Nevada logged a record 112 pedestrian deaths in 2024, surpassing the previous high of 107 recorded the year before.
Through June 30, 2025, the state had recorded 50 pedestrian deaths compared to 62 during the same period in 2024. Forty-four of those fatalities occurred in Clark County, which continues to account for the majority of pedestrian deaths statewide.
The decline follows a broader national trend. Preliminary data from the first half of 2025 showed pedestrian fatalities falling across much of the country after years of sustained increases.
What the Findings Tell Us
Pedestrian deaths have started to move in the right direction nationally, but where those deaths occur still varies dramatically from one part of the country to another. Some states consistently recorded some of the highest fatality rates in the nation, while certain cities and counties appeared throughout the rankings again and again.
The summer season is just a fraction of the year, but it is when all the factors contributing to severe accidents converge. The number of pedestrians increases, vehicles fill up the road, and the threat of speeding and impaired driving never goes away.
The rankings also show that population alone does not determine risk. Several smaller states recorded some of the highest pedestrian fatality rates in the nation, while some larger states ranked much lower once population was taken into account.
When a Pedestrian Crash Changes Everything
It is not uncommon for individuals who have been involved in a pedestrian accident to find themselves facing ongoing difficulties even after the incident itself. The medical bills, lost wages, insurance issues, and liability problems can become burdensome very quickly.
As a courtroom-proven, client-praised firm representing injury victims across Nevada, H&P Law understands the lasting impact these crashes can have. In situations like these, speaking with a Las Vegas pedestrian accident lawyer can help individuals better understand their legal rights and available options.
