ClaraNila/Getty Images
Audio By Carbonatix
If you live in west Phoenix and feel like taking a nighttime stroll, might we recommend avoiding Indian School Road? Or maybe just not going for that walk — day or night — altogether?
Arizona is one of the most dangerous states for pedestrians. Pedestrians die in Arizona in traffic collisions at nearly twice the rate as in any other state. And Indian School Road in west Phoenix, specifically in the Maryvale and Alhambra neighborhoods? It’s the deadliest corridor for pedestrians in our infamously dangerous state, according to a new report by AZ Law Now.
Just this month, there was a fatal multiple-car collision on that very corridor. An allegedly impaired driver going 96 miles per hour — more than twice the speed limit — ran a red light at Indian School Road and 27th Avenue, causing a seven-vehicle crash. One pedestrian was hit. He survived. Another driver was not so lucky and died at the hospital. The speeding driver is now facing second-degree murder charges.
The personal injury law firm found that 118 pedestrians were killed by cars on that stretch of road between 2000 and 2024, more than any other stretch of roadway in the state. Of the 12 deadliest half-kilometer stretches of road in Arizona, five are located in that approximately one square mile along Indian School Road.
David Sailors/Getty Images
For its report, AZ Law Now analyzed 25 years of federal road fatality data. It analyzed data from 2000 through 2024 from the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration Fatality Analysis Reporting System database to calculate pedestrian death counts, light conditions and the year-by-year trend. It also used data from ADOT’s 2024 Crash Facts and the Governor’s Highway Safety Association national per-capita rank for the state.
The study found that, between 2000 and 2024, one in six people killed on the road were pedestrians in Arizona. In all, 4,409 pedestrians were killed in the state in that time period. Nearly six in 10 of those deaths happen in Maricopa County, the report found. That’s 2,598 pedestrian deaths. Pima County came in a distant second with 15.6% of the total count, or 689 pedestrian deaths.
Phoenix as a city led with 27.5% of all of the state’s pedestrian fatalities — more than Tucson, Mesa, Tempe and Glendale combined. A pedestrian died after being hit by a car in northwest Phoenix earlier this week.
Statewide pedestrian deaths have been rising, the report found. Between 2000 and 2004, the first five-year span of the 25-year data set, 695 pedestrians were killed by cars. The yearly number of fatalities held steady, with about 140 people a year dying on the road on foot. However, in 2014, the number of deaths began to climb, peaking at 297 people in 2022. That’s an 85% increase in pedestrian fatalities between the first five years of the data set and the last five years.
Provided by AZ Law Now
Of the pedestrians killed statewide, 18.1% were 65 years or older. Nearly two-thirds were hit and killed while walking in the dark. It didn’t matter if the street lights were on. In fact, the study found that more than twice as many people died under working street lights than on streets where there were no lights at all. Most pedestrian deaths — 71.9% — happened midblock, far away from a crosswalk. (Relatedly, the city of Phoenix recently made it easier for police to issue jaywalking citations.) Just under half happened between 6 and 10 p.m., and nearly a quarter were hit-and-run incidents.
With all of this in mind: Next time you go for your daily constitution, maybe take it in a nearby park?
