“You have to live with that the rest of your life”: a look at pedestrian deaths in Alaska

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) -While a light snow fell, Casey Schuler looked out his office window.

“I see a lot of folks, you know, running out into the street against any of the lights crossing the street there,” Schuler said. “Oftentimes, down the street itself, crossing it, not the crosswalks. But I also see people crossing at the crosswalks and drivers, more or less, kind of ignoring the pedestrian right of way.”

They were hit by people driving under the influence, or while dashing across the street dressed in black, it happened because the lighting wasn’t bright enough and road conditions were slippery. There seem to be constant near misses.

“I mean, on a daily basis, I see it,” Schuler said. “I’ve seen people actually hit.”

In the past 12 months, 15 people in Anchorage were killed in pedestrian versus vehicle collisions according to the Anchorage Police Department.

In 2023, there were six.

Across the United States, according to data compiled by the Washington Post, there’s been a surge of pedestrian deaths in the Lower 48 — from 4,302 in 2010 to 7,314 deaths in 2023.

Revealed in its “Deadliest Roads in America” report, in Albuquerque, 34 pedestrians were killed along a three-mile stretch of Central Avenue between 2010 and 2023. In Los Angeles, 33 people were killed on Western Avenue just south of downtown during that time.

Alaska state data shows 19 percent of all fatalities on Alaska’s roadways happened when someone was walking or biking. Additionally, there are Alaska-specific problems such as snowy roads, dark clothing, and drugs and alcohol.

“We continue to see a trend with drugs alcohol or a combination thereof for both pedestrians and drivers,” Chief Sean Case with APD said.

Anchorage also follows national trends of people being hit by vehicles on multi-lane roads, by impaired drivers or pedestrians and people taking risks to cross outside of the crosswalk.

Case said city roads were designed to get any driver to their destination within 15 minutes and oftentimes, drivers are going faster than the posted limit.

From where he sits, Schuler says he often thinks about the driver going down the road, not looking for any problems, who then hits and kills someone.

“I actually think of the person that is riding along, you know going about their day, not looking to cause any issues, and then, you know, a pedestrian walks out in front of them. You hit them, you know, potentially kill that person and you have to live with that the rest of your life.”

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