As Atlanta pedestrian deaths rise, Propel ATL highlights the stories of those lost

Caption

The Rev. Tim McDonald holding a photo of Emanuel Biggs, who was killed on Atlanta's Moreland Avenue in October 2022.

Credit: Dessa Lohrey

Over the past few years, the city of Atlanta's streets have become more dangerous for pedestrians.

Georgia Department of Transportation data shows a steady increase in the number of pedestrians killed on Atlanta streets. That number last year was 38, up nearly a quarter from 2021.

To put a human face to that statistic, the nonprofit Propel ATL has released a story map, which breaks down who was killed and where.

It's called "38 Reasons Why" and it highlights one trend: People walking in Black neighborhoods and in low-income communities are more likely to lose their lives in traffic. Twenty-five of those 38 deaths last year occurred in predominantly Black neighborhoods, according to Propel ATL's analysis.

That's in part because those neighborhoods are less likely to have things like sidewalks, crosswalks and bike lanes that keep people safe on the streets.

Nobody was killed while biking in Atlanta in 2022. This could be because of the expansion of bicycle infrastructure, which makes trips safer for cyclists, but Propel ATL says the potential reasons are complex.

Read Propel ATL's "38 Reasons Why" here.