Pedestrian and Cyclist Deaths Don’t Seem to Matter

January 15, 2019, Kitchener, Ontario

Posted by: Robert Deutschmann, Personal Injury Lawyer

I would like to thank a Tara Goddard, a woman I follow on Twitter, for sharing an editorial this week that frames the point very nicely. We don’t seem to have much regard for pedestrian and cyclist deaths as a society, and the reaction to the deaths is shaped by editorial coverage in the media. Vulnerable road users (cyclists and pedestrians) die frequently in car collisions. In the USA approximately 20% of the 37,000 road deaths annually are pedestrians and cyclists yet there is little outrage over the numbers.

The article published by Kelcie Ralph, Rutgers; Evan Iacobucci, Rutgers; Calvin Thigpen; Lime Tara Goddard, Texas A&M discusses the editorial language used to shape public perception. It is well worth the read and I am copying it here. You can read the original here.

Please read it and consider why we frame the deaths of the vulnerable road users so badly in the media, and why we don't recognize the importance of changing this.

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