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Last updated on Thursday, March 17, 2016
(INDIANAPOLIS) - The number of pedestrians killed in 2015 is the highest in ten years - 92
Indiana saw an 18-percent jump in pedestrian fatalities from 2014 to 2015, the highest number in the last ten years.
Indiana Criminal Justice Institute spokesman Adam Baker, whose agency keeps track of traffic safety data, says there are a lot of factors at play, including more people walking.
"In any situation when you increase flow, when you increase traffic whether behind a motorcycle, car, or walking, you are going to increase the likelihood of someone being injured," Baker says.
The numbers match national trends.
The Governors State Highway Association, in a report released earlier this month, estimates 2015 saw an unprecedented 10-percent increase nationwide in the number of people on foot killed in traffic crashes in 2015.
"At a minimum, half of pedestrian fatalities are alcohol related and that doesn't begin to take into account drivers and pedestrians that are impaired by alcohol, just not at that high of level," Richarge Retting author of the report says.
On a positive note, Indiana has seen a decrease in cycling deaths - down from 12 in 2014 to nine in 2015.
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