By D. Alex Quistberg, The Conversation via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n
Philadelphians die in traffic crashes more than people who live in Chicago, Boston, Washington and New York.<\/p>\n
In fact, three times more Philly residents than New Yorkers died in traffic crashes in 2024, according to a\u00a0report<\/a> from the Philadelphia City Controller\u2019s Office based on the most recent data available.<\/p>\n I research road traffic safety, and nearly two years ago I wrote about\u00a0what Philadelphia can do\u00a0to address its pedestrian and bicyclist traffic fatalities in response to the death of\u00a0Dr. Barbara Friedes, a pediatric resident at Children\u2019s Hospital of Philadelphia who was fatally struck by a drunk driver while biking though Center City.<\/p>\n Friedes was one of 137 traffic deaths in 2024<\/a>\u00a0in Philadelphia, and while that decreased to\u00a0101 in 2025, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation<\/a>, Philadelphia remains an outlier compared with its peers.<\/p>\n Despite making important traffic safety investments and policies, even before Freides\u2019 death, Philadelphia is still far from reaching\u00a0its Vision Zero goals<\/a>.\u00a0Vision Zero\u00a0originated in Sweden and is a policy strategy to reduce road traffic deaths to zero deaths annually.<\/p>\n Who in Philadelphia is most affected by traffic deaths<\/a>, and what is the city currently doing \u2014 and what else can it do \u2014 about road safety?<\/p>\n Who is most affected, and where<\/p>\n According to the\u00a0Pennsylvania Department of Transportation<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0federal data<\/a>, pedestrians and bicyclists make up half of Philadelphia\u2019s traffic deaths since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Yet drivers and motorcyclists also have higher rates of traffic fatalities in Philadelphia compared with all of its peer cities.<\/p>\n Fatal crashes in Philadelphia are mostly concentrated in poorer neighborhoods. Hunting Park, Juniata Park and Upper Kensington saw the highest increases in frequency, while Franklinville, Tioga and Allegheny West had some of the highest rates overall.<\/p>\n Based on U.S. Census data on\u00a0how people commute to work<\/a>, Philadelphia\u2019s higher fatality rate is not due to residents walking, biking or driving more frequently than in the other cities. Philadelphians walk half as much as Bostonians and commute by car about the same as people in Chicago. The vehicle fleet involved in crashes is similar in all five cities, so larger vehicles cannot account for the difference, either.<\/p>\n What is different in Philadelphia compared with the peer cities is that fatal crashes are more likely to involve speeding, be a hit-and-run, and happen at night or on a major roadway. However, fatal crashes in Philadelphia are\u00a0less likely to involve alcohol<\/a>.<\/p>\n What might be working in Philly<\/p>\n PennDOT\u2019s most recent crash data suggests a 27% drop in fatal crashes in Philadelphia in\u00a02025<\/a>\u00a0compared with the previous year. So far,\u00a02026<\/a>\u00a0is mirroring 2025 numbers.<\/p>\n The number of fatal crashes also dropped in Chicago, Boston, Washington and New York, so there are likely broader\u00a0national trends<\/a>\u00a0at play.<\/p>\n Research suggests<\/a>\u00a0that\u00a0automated speed enforcement cameras\u00a0that were installed on Roosevelt Boulevard in 2020 have made Philadelphia\u2019s\u00a0notoriously dangerous road\u00a0safer. Fatal and serious crashes decreased 11% after installation, despite increasing 16% citywide.<\/p>\n Broad Street, however, which runs from South Philadelphia through Center City to North Philadelphia, tripled its share of the city\u2019s traffic deaths. It was the site of a total of 45 deaths between 2020 and 2024. Its automated enforcement program<\/a> started in November 2025, so it is too early to evaluate its effects.<\/p>\n Besides speed cameras, Philadelphia introduced or expanded other traffic safety programs, which may also be having a positive effect. For example, the\u00a0Slow Zone Program<\/a>\u00a0pairs city planners and engineers with neighborhood residents to design traffic safety solutions together. The city also installs dozens of\u00a0speed cushions<\/a>\u00a0each month, in addition to other traffic-calming and\u00a0pedestrian-safety measures<\/a>. And the\u00a0bike network continues to expand\u00a0and includes more\u00a0protected lanes<\/a>, which use physical barriers like parked vehicles or concrete blocks to separate cyclists from motor vehicle traffic.<\/p>\n Evidence<\/a>\u00a0from\u00a0other cities\u00a0suggests\u00a0that such measures can\u00a0improve safety\u00a0for all road users.<\/p>\n Future benefits\u00a0are expected from newer measures such as automated speed enforcement in\u00a0certain school zones\u00a0as well as on\u00a0Baltimore Avenue\u00a0in West Philadelphia.<\/p>\n Automated parking enforcement<\/a>\u00a0via cameras on public buses may also help. Parked or stopped vehicles blocking public transit can lead to impatient drivers who may drive against opposing traffic to pass a stuck bus or trolley,<\/a> which could lead to striking another vehicle or a pedestrian or cyclist that is not immediately visible.<\/p>\n Lessons from peer cities<\/p>\n The peer cities have implemented similar measures and others, often on a wider scale than Philadelphia.<\/p>\n New York had a\u00a0record low of 205 traffic fatalities in 2025<\/a>, its lowest since 1910 when recordkeeping began. Its\u00a0school speed camera<\/a>\u00a0program covers 750 school zones and runs all day, every day. New York also has speed cameras\u00a0elsewhere, and the city lowered\u00a0speed limits to 20 mph in some locations.<\/p>\n Intelligent speed assistance on all nonemergency city vehicles was mandated in New York City in 2026. A pilot program begun in 2022 demonstrated a 64% reduction in the time that city workers drove over the speed limit by 11 mph or more.<\/p>\n New York also implemented congestion pricing, in January 2025, which may have contributed to a\u00a040% reduction in crashes<\/a>\u00a0in the congestion cordon. But a recent analysis showed that the pricing changes led to\u00a0no significant reductions\u00a0compared to control areas. This may be due to an overall reduction in crashes.<\/p>\n Finally, New York implemented\u00a0turn calming<\/a>\u00a0in 2016. Turn calming is when intersections are reconfigured to reduce turning speeds and sharp turns. At treated locations, the risk of pedestrian injuries dropped 16% and the risk of\u00a0pedestrian fatalities 80%<\/a>.<\/p>\n Chicago,\u00a0Washington,\u00a0D.C., and\u00a0Boston\u00a0have also implemented policies similar to those in New York.<\/p>\n Next steps<\/p>\n Expanding automated speed enforcement and traffic calming are, I believe, the highest-value policies that Philadelphia can continue expanding to catch up to peers and move closer to its Vision Zero goals.<\/p>\n Peer cities were able to enact these changes through home rule or via their state granting them powers to do so. In Philadelphia, state leaders in Harrisburg\u00a0hold preemption\u00a0over changing\u00a0speed limits\u00a0or installing speed cameras. This is notable considering 74% of Philadelphia\u2019s road traffic deaths\u00a0occur on state roads<\/a>, and the deadliest 15 roads in the city all have a state road designation.<\/p>\n