Whether you’re crossing Clematis Street, walking along the Intracoastal, heading to CityPlace, or simply making your way through a neighborhood in West Palm Beach, pedestrian safety is a real and daily concern throughout Palm Beach County.
Pedestrians are among the most vulnerable people on any road. There are no airbags, no seat belts, no steel frame between a walker and an oncoming vehicle. Even a relatively slow-speed impact can result in broken bones, traumatic brain injuries, or injuries that permanently change someone’s life.
The latest Palm Beach County crash data paints a sobering picture. Pedestrian crashes have been climbing steadily for years, and fatalities have risen even faster. Here’s what the numbers actually show.
How Many Pedestrian Accidents Happen in Palm Beach County Every Day?
According to preliminary 2025 crash data, Palm Beach County recorded 759 pedestrian crashes out of 25,595 total traffic crashes reported. That means pedestrian accidents made up approximately 3% of all reported crashes, but they accounted for a disproportionately larger share of the county’s most serious outcomes.
Put into everyday terms: Palm Beach County experienced roughly two pedestrian accidents every single day in 2025.
The people behind those numbers weren’t doing anything unusual. They were crossing streets, walking to work, heading to shops, or simply moving through their neighborhoods: the same things people do everywhere, every day.
How Many Pedestrians Are Killed in Palm Beach County Traffic Crashes?
In 2025, Palm Beach County recorded 31 pedestrian fatalities out of 161 total traffic deaths. That means pedestrians accounted for nearly 1 in every 5 traffic fatalities, despite representing a small fraction of total road users.
Read that again: pedestrians made up just 3% of crashes but nearly 20% of all traffic deaths in the county.
That gap reflects something important about what happens when a vehicle and a pedestrian collide. The physics are unequal in a way that car-on-car crashes simply aren’t. A pedestrian absorbs the full force of the impact with no protection at all.
Based on full-year 2024 data, Palm Beach County lost a pedestrian to a traffic crash approximately every 6 days. Even one preventable death is too many.
Are Pedestrian Accidents Getting Worse in Palm Beach County?
The short answer is yes, and the trend goes back further than most people realize. Looking at data from 2022 through 2024:
| Year | Pedestrian Crashes | Pedestrian Fatalities | Pedestrian Injuries |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 646 | 57 | 528 |
| 2023 | 713 | 54 | 559 |
| 2024 | 807 | 61 | 661 |
| 2025* | 759 | 31 | Preliminary |
Between 2022 and 2024 alone:
- Pedestrian crashes increased by 24.9%
- Pedestrian injuries increased by 25.2%
- Pedestrian fatalities increased by 7.0%
The jump from 2023 to 2024 is particularly notable. Pedestrian crashes rose 13.2% in a single year, injuries jumped 18.25%, and fatalities climbed nearly 13%.
The Longer View: A Decade of Rising Risk
The recent uptick doesn’t exist in isolation. Looking back at 2019, the trajectory becomes even clearer.
| Year | Pedestrian Crashes | Pedestrian Fatalities | Pedestrian Injuries |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 633 | 42 | 542 |
| 2020 | 487 | 43 | 404 |
| 2021 | 573 | 48 | 456 |
| 2022 | 646 | 57 | 528 |
| 2023 | 713 | 54 | 559 |
| 2024 | 807 | 61 | 661 |
The 2020 dip lines up with the pandemic and significantly reduced traffic volume statewide. Once traffic returned to normal, pedestrian crashes rebounded quickly and then kept climbing.
From 2019 to 2024, pedestrian crashes in Palm Beach County rose 27.5%. Pedestrian injuries rose 22%. Most strikingly, pedestrian fatalities rose 45.2% over the same period, with nearly half as many people killed walking in 2024 compared to 2019.
That fatalities are growing faster than crashes is a signal worth paying attention to. It may reflect more severe collisions, faster vehicle speeds, or changing conditions on county roads.
Palm Beach County’s Share of Florida’s Pedestrian Problem
Pedestrian crashes are a statewide issue in Florida, and Palm Beach County carries a significant portion of that burden.
| Year | FL Pedestrian Crashes | Palm Beach County | PBC Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 10,247 | 646 | 6.3% |
| 2023 | 10,306 | 713 | 6.9% |
| 2024 | 10,501 | 807 | 7.7% |
Palm Beach County accounts for 7.7% of all pedestrian crashes in Florida, a share that has grown every year. Florida itself consistently ranks among the most dangerous states for pedestrians nationally, making that county-level share even more significant in context.
Why Are Pedestrian Crashes So Dangerous?
Pedestrian crashes tend to produce far more serious outcomes than most vehicle-to-vehicle collisions. When a car strikes a person on foot, there is typically an initial impact with the vehicle, a secondary impact with the ground, and nothing, no crumple zones, no airbags, no restraint system, to absorb the forces involved.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA):
- The risk of a pedestrian fatality increases sharply at higher vehicle speeds
- Approximately 85% of pedestrian fatalities occur in urban areas
- More than half of pedestrian fatalities happen during dawn, dusk, or nighttime conditions
- The highest concentration of pedestrian fatalities occurs between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.
South Florida’s road environment adds additional layers of risk. Wide, high-speed arterial roads designed primarily for vehicle throughput often run through areas where large numbers of people walk every day. Gaps in sidewalk coverage, inconsistent crosswalk infrastructure, and limited lighting in some corridors create conditions where even careful pedestrians can be seriously exposed.
Where Pedestrian Crashes Tend to Happen in Palm Beach County
Crash data across South Florida consistently shows pedestrian incidents clustering along busy commercial corridors, major intersections, and urban areas where foot traffic and vehicle traffic regularly mix.
In Palm Beach County, areas that see elevated pedestrian activity and traffic volumes include:
- Okeechobee Boulevard and surrounding intersections
- Southern Boulevard corridor
- Congress Avenue
- Military Trail
- Federal Highway (US-1) through the coastal communities
- Downtown West Palm Beach
- Lake Worth Beach and Boynton Beach commercial corridors
- Delray Beach Atlantic Avenue areaI
What Palm Beach County Is Doing About Pedestrian Safety
Local agencies have recognized the need for safer infrastructure and have begun directing resources toward pedestrian improvements. The Palm Beach Transportation Planning Agency (TPA) has identified pedestrian and bicycle safety as a core priority in its long-range planning.
Efforts underway or planned for Palm Beach County include:
- Expanded high-visibility crosswalk installations at key intersections
- Signal timing improvements to better accommodate pedestrians
- Sidewalk gap closures along priority corridors
- Enhanced lighting in areas with identified pedestrian crash clusters
- Safe Routes to School programs targeting pedestrian hazards near educational facilities
Florida’s Vision Zero framework, adopted by several municipalities statewid, sets a long-term goal of eliminating traffic fatalities and serious injuries entirely. Progress toward that goal in Palm Beach County will depend on sustained investment, enforcement, and design changes that prioritize pedestrian safety alongside vehicle throughput.
Pedestrian Safety Tips for Walking in Palm Beach County
No pedestrian can fully control what drivers do around them. Still, there are practical steps that can reduce exposure to risk.
- Use designated crosswalks when available. Crossing mid-block outside of marked crossings significantly increases collision risk and may also affect your legal options if an accident does occur.
- Make yourself visible. Wear bright or reflective clothing in low-light conditions. Use lights when walking at dawn, dusk, or night — the hours when pedestrian fatalities concentrate most heavily.
- Be especially cautious at driveways and turning lanes. Many pedestrian crashes happen when a driver turning into or out of a driveway, parking lot, or side street fails to see a pedestrian approaching in the crosswalk.
- Do not assume a driver has seen you. Even in a marked crosswalk with a walk signal, it’s worth making eye contact with drivers before stepping into traffic.
- Put the phone down. Distracted walking is a real risk factor, and distracted driving is one of the leading causes of crashes involving pedestrians.
What the Numbers Tell Us
The data tells a consistent story. Palm Beach County’s pedestrian crash and fatality numbers have risen in nearly every year since 2020, and the long-range trend from 2019 to 2024 shows crashes up more than 27% and fatalities up more than 45%. The county accounts for a growing share of Florida’s overall pedestrian crash problem, and Florida is already one of the most dangerous states in the country for people on foot.
Infrastructure improvements and safety initiatives are encouraging steps. But behind each number in these tables is a person who was hurt or killed doing something ordinary. That human reality is what these statistics are ultimately tracking.
If you or someone you love was injured in a pedestrian accident in West Palm Beach or anywhere in Palm Beach County, our pedestrian accident attorneys are here to help. At Steinger, Greene & Feiner, we have been representing injured Floridians since 1997, and we offer free case evaluations so you can understand your options without any upfront cost or commitment.