Since 2020, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has recognized October as National Pedestrian Safety Month. The initiative focuses on enhancing awareness regarding the importance of pedestrian safety, creating pedestrian-friendly infrastructure, and reducing pedestrian injuries or fatalities. According to a report by the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), 7,148 pedestrians were killed in the United States in 2024. To visualize the number of lives lost, the GHSA shared that “7,148 pedestrians are enough to fill more than 30 Boeing 737 jets at maximum capacity.” We are all pedestrians at some point in our commutes, and this article acknowledges our department’s efforts to implement a culture that prioritizes pedestrian safety through the milestones and strategies identified in the Vision Zero Action Plan.
Learn About Vision Zero in Durham:
Vision Zero is a strategy that aims to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries by enhancing street safety for all road users. The City’s Vision Zero resolution was adopted unanimously by the City Council. Since then, a Vision Zero Action Plan has been created. The Vision Zero Action Plan was approved in April 2025.
Current Phase:
The Action plan is a five-year plan (2025-2029) that outlines the City’s priorities for its corridors to reduce deaths and serious injuries on Durham roadways by 50% by 2035 and 100% by 2045. The Action Plan focuses on addressing the High Injury Network (HIN), which are the 10% of streets that account for 74% of traffic deaths and serious injuries. The HIN is a tool that utilizes crash data to identify roadways with the highest frequency of severe crashes, allowing the City to focus its resources on areas with the most significant safety needs. Two key strategies in the Vision Zero Action Plan include Road Safety Audits (an independent review of streets and intersections) and implementing Quick-Build Projects (low-cost and easy-to-implement safety infrastructure improvements).
This map indicates that 74 percent of fatal and severe-injury crashes occur on 10 percent of Durham’s Roads. This data was determined by analyzing crash data from eight years (2016-2023) in Durham.
Vision Zero Data Dashboard:
To bring transparency to Vision Zero, the City is finalizing a data dashboard that will report the City’s efforts to report crash data, identify patterns through crash statistics, provide project updates, and supply safety information. It will be accessible and interactive, and data will be used to help the community identify safe streets. The data dashboard will be released to the public later this Fall.
Making Progress:
The fatal crash rate in Durham has increased since 2017. The graph below shows the reporting from the Vision Zero Action Plan.
Since then, the City has filled five miles of sidewalk gaps, installed nine miles of bike lanes along neighborhood routes, completed 18 traffic calming projects, and prohibited right turns on red lights at 14 intersections.
As the City grows, so does our need to improve our pedestrian infrastructure. With the Vision Zero Action Plan as our guide over the next five years, the City will continue to make significant strides in reaching the goal of eliminating serious deaths and injuries on Durham roadways.
We are all pedestrians. Drivers always yield to pedestrians, slow down, and prepare to stop when entering a crosswalk area. Pedestrians follow the rules of the road and look in all directions for vehicles or bicycles when crossing the street.