More pedestrians and cyclists were killed in US in 2018 than in any year since 1990.

US traffic deaths fell 2.4 percent in 2018 to 36,560 although the number of pedestrians killed rose to its highest level in nearly three decades, the United States car safety agency said on Tuesday.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said traffic deaths fell for the second straight year – down 913 from 2017. The death rate fell by 3.4 percent, the lowest rate since 2014.

Despite the decrease in overall deaths, pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities continue to rise, with deaths of those on foot climbing 3.4 percent to 6,283 last year. The number of people killed on roads while using bicycles and other non-motorised vehicles rose 6.3 percent to 857.

More pedestrians and cyclists were killed in 2018 than in any year since 1990. Deaths of pedestrians have jumped by 42 percent in the last decade even as the combined number of all other traffic deaths has fallen by eight percent.

Distracted driving

Car safety experts say the growing number of drivers distracted by mobile devices is at least partly to blame. NHTSA said Tuesday it is looking for ways to reduce fatalities among pedestrians and bicyclists.

The Governors Highway Safety Association said in February the increasing shift in US vehicle sales away from passenger cars to light trucks is a factor in the rising number of deaths. The group said the number of pedestrian fatalities involving SUVs increased at a faster rate – 50 percent – from 2013 to 2017 compared with passenger cars, which increased by 30 percent.

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Earlier this month, the American Automobile Association (AAA) said its research showed that automatic emergency braking systems designed to stop vehicles from striking pedestrians did not always work effectively and had a significantly higher failure rate at night.

Three-quarters of all pedestrian deaths take place at night, NHTSA says, while 38 percent of pedestrians killed had some alcohol in their systems and 74 percent were not at intersections when struck.

NHTSA said last week it may include vehicle technologies tied to the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists when it revises its five-star New Car Assessment Program.

In 2017, the US had 6.4 million traffic crashes reported to police agencies resulting in 2.7 million injuries, according to an NHTSA report released last month.

Still, US roads are far safer than they were a half-century ago, when the death rate was nearly five times higher and more than 50,000 people died annually in crashes.