Feds launch campaign as pedestrian deaths see highest toll in a decade By Tim Harlow | The Drive October 25, 2020 — 5:50pm Text size Copy shortlink: But the statistics suggest that going for a walk is increasingly becoming more deadly. Over the past decade, pedestrian deaths in the United States jumped by more than 50%. Last year was the deadliest in three decades with an estimated 6,590 people on foot killed, according to an analysis of traffic fatalities by the Governor’s Highway Safety Association (GHSA). The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) noticed the upward trend, too — leading the agency to proclaim October as the first-ever National Pedestrian Safety Month.