After a truly carnage-filled 2016, New Mexico traffic fatalities in 2017 continue to hover somewhere between the record high of last year and the increasingly apparent outlier low of 2015. Here are the monthly figures through April:
While the overall numbers this year are significantly down from last year, the rate of pedestrians killed in New Mexico has only dipped slightly. Compiling 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 figures through April, we get:
- 2010: 6 (yes, really…six)
- 2011: 11
- 2012: 25
- 2013: 18
- 2014: 23
- 2015: 14
- 2016: 25
- 2017: 23
While reasons for the jump that began here in 2012 are probably many, the meteoric rise in smart phones sure looks to be somehow involved:
More than anything, looking at both the small samples through April and annual trends, it looks certain we’re not going back to the remarkably smaller number of pedestrian deaths in the early 2010s anytime soon without meaningful fundamental changes to how we drive, walk, design roadways, and police/regulate road user behavior on our streets.
Until some effective combination of these changes occur, we’re simply looking at keeping the rather horrifying status quo.
Be safe and watchful out there, everyone.
Better Burque 
There is a huge problem with jaywalkers all over town. I live near the fairgrounds where people walk directly in front of traffic everyday. The city does nothing. We also have a large amount of bike riders who are not interested in stopping at stop signs. This is all over the city. They ride through the crosswalks when the red hand is on instead of waiting and pushing the button to cross. This I’m told by the city is illegal. I sit on my front porch everyday and count numerous bike riders who run the stop signs on both ends of my block. A few years ago a bike rider who also rode a motor cycle down our street was hit at the intersection just south of my house. We tried to warn him but he just flipped us off and yelled share the road! My neighboor calls them the free lunch crowd since they always scream for more bike paths but have no insurance or registration.
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