Charlotte’s Pedestrian Death Rate Runs 81% Above the National Average

Charlotte recorded 3.76 pedestrian deaths per 100,000 residents in 2024. That is roughly 81% higher than the national rate of 2.08 and about 57% higher than North Carolina’s statewide rate of 2.39, according to a new five-year analysis of pedestrian fatalities by Shane Smith Law. The population-adjusted numbers make it clear that the city’s death toll can’t be explained by its size alone. Between 2020 and 2024, 131 people died while walking in Charlotte, and the analysis finds those deaths followed repeatable patterns: where they happened, when they happened, and the circumstances involved.

The findings arrive six years after Charlotte launched its Vision Zero campaign in 2018 with the goal of eliminating traffic deaths by 2040. In 2024, the city recorded 34 pedestrian deaths, up from 23 in 2023. That’s a 47.8% jump in a single year and roughly 30% above Charlotte’s own five-year average. Mecklenburg County saw a similar spike, rising from 24 to 36 deaths (a 50% increase), while North Carolina as a whole climbed 15.3% to 264 deaths. Charlotte’s share of every pedestrian death in the state reached 12.9% in 2024, its highest share in the five years studied.

The analysis also found that pedestrian deaths in Charlotte are highly concentrated. About 60 roads appeared in the fatality data over the five-year period, but just 10 of them accounted for 61 of the 131 deaths, or 46.6% of the total. In other words, nearly one in every two pedestrians killed in Charlotte died on one of those 10 roads. I-85 led the list with 13 deaths, almost 10% of the city’s entire five-year total, followed by I-485 with nine and I-77 with five. Together, those three interstates accounted for 20.6% of all pedestrian fatalities in the city. That points to a distinct safety issue involving access, barriers, and places where people on foot unexpectedly meet high-speed traffic. The remaining roads on the list were The Plaza, East Independence Boulevard, Beatties Ford Road, Albemarle Road, South Tryon Street, Brookshire Boulevard, and North Graham Street. These are major surface roads where multiple lanes, wide crossings, and higher speeds can make walking across especially difficult.

Timing also played a clear role. Nationally, pedestrian deaths in 2024 rose from a low of 460 in June to a high of 732 in November, a 59% increase as daylight hours shrank. North Carolina showed an even sharper swing, from 12 deaths in July to 30 in October, a 150% increase. Charlotte followed the same broad pattern on a smaller scale, ranging from one death in March to five in December, its deadliest month of the year.

Among the behaviors recorded in fatal crashes, alcohol came up more often than speeding or distracted driving. A driver with a blood alcohol concentration of .08 or higher was involved in 26 crashes, or roughly one in five pedestrian deaths. When any measurable alcohol is counted, that number rises to 35 crashes, about 27% of the total. Another 15 crashes involved a driver with a BAC of .15 or higher. By comparison, speeding was recorded in 15 crashes (11.5%) and distracted driving in six (4.6%). These figures reflect factors recorded in the dataset and do not show that one behavior caused more deaths than another.

Hit-and-run crashes stood out even more. Of the 131 deaths, 37 involved a driver who fled the scene. That’s roughly 28%, or more than one in four fatalities. The share peaked at 46.2% in 2021, fell to 13% in 2023, and rose again to 32.4% in 2024. Across the full five years, hit-and-runs appeared more often than impaired driving at the .08 level, speeding, or distraction, which often leaves families without immediate answers about what happened or who was responsible.

The vehicles involved are shifting as well. Passenger cars were the striking vehicle in 43.5% of deaths, and light trucks (including pickups, SUVs, and vans) accounted for 37.4%. SUVs alone made up 23.7% of all pedestrian fatalities, and their share grew from 12.5% in 2020 to 29.4% in 2024.

The people killed were overwhelmingly adults. Men accounted for 68.7% of deaths, about 2.2 times as many as women. Pedestrians age 25 and older made up 85.5% of all fatalities, and adults ages 25 to 54 alone accounted for 54.2%. Pedestrians 55 and older are making up a growing share, rising from 25% of deaths in 2020 to 38.2% in 2024.

Taken together, the data shows that pedestrian risk in Charlotte is not random. The deaths are concentrated on specific corridors, increase during predictable months, and repeatedly involve the same circumstances. That gives the city a clearer picture of where intervention could save lives as it works toward its Vision Zero goal.