Daily Herald opinion: Tough goal, easy response: As pedestrian traffic deaths climb, one solution for drivers is obvious

The Illinois Zero Traffic Fatalities Task Force sets an admirable goal of eliminating all pedestrian traffic deaths in the state.

Yes, admirable, but is it realistic? Especially considering that such deaths actually have been increasing steadily for four years.

Well, the objective may seem hopelessly quixotic, but it is interesting to note that one simple driver behavior would make it believable that pedestrian deaths could be brought from around 200 a year down to zero.

Slow down.

As our transportation and projects senior writer Marni Pyke reported on Monday, a key proposal the task force is planning is to give local municipalities more control over reducing speed limits on state-managed highways.

“By far and away, it’s speed that is the biggest contributor to pedestrian deaths and injuries,” Pyke quotes Maggie Czerwinski, of the Active Transportation Alliance.

Despite a small, one-year blip in 2024, total traffic deaths in Illinois decreased 3.4% between 2021 and 2025, but pedestrian deaths have been climbing — from 195 in 2022 to 218 in 2025, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation. In response, many experts suggest the state start by removing obstacles to reducing speed limits on arteries that run through local communities.

Illinois’ statutory default speed limit in urban or commercial areas is 30 mph. Advisers would like to give local communities more authority to lower that to 25 or even 20 mph. In case you think those numbers are inconsequential, consider this: the Federal Highway Administration says a pedestrian has a 45% chance of being killed or seriously injured when struck by a vehicle traveling 30 mph, but just a 5% chance when the vehicle speed is 20 mph.

It’s also worth noting that among all traffic fatalities in 2025, more than a third occurred on state or U.S. routes as opposed to less than 16% that occurred on interstate highways.

“Many IDOT roadways and state route arterials carry the most traffic, at higher rates of speed and have many of the fatal and serious injury crashes we’re trying to address,” Victoria Barrett, of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, told Pyke.

Speed is not the only factor in fatal collisions, of course. Nor are pedestrian deaths the sole consideration in the task force’s purview. “Zero Traffic Fatalities” is the central goal in its name, after all.

So, the group also is considering various recommendations on other factors involved in traffic safety, including traffic camera laws, right-turn-on-red restrictions and more.

Even if every idea were implemented, the notion of eliminating every single traffic death in the state seems highly improbable. But it’s a good goal, and importantly, it is also valuable to note that we can all contribute to achieving it merely by driving just a little slower through town.