New Mexico tops nation again in pedestrian fatalities

New Mexico recorded 91 pedestrian fatalities in 2025 and returned to the nation’s worst per-capita pedestrian death rate, with nearly half of the deaths in the Albuquerque area. In Bernalillo County, the toll has stayed concentrated enough that the question is not whether the danger exists, but where the next crash will happen.

The statewide picture did not improve enough to change that reality. The Governors Highway Safety Association said drivers struck and killed 3,024 people walking in the United States in the first six months of 2025, a 10.9% drop from the same period in 2024 and the largest annual decline since it began tracking the figure. Even so, the group said 7,148 pedestrians were killed on U.S. roads in 2024, down 4.3% from 2023 but still nearly 20% higher than the 2016 level.

In Albuquerque, the risk is concentrated on the city’s busiest streets. Nine of New Mexico’s 10 most dangerous intersections are in Albuquerque, a pattern that keeps the city at the center of the state’s pedestrian safety problem. In 2024, more than half of New Mexico’s pedestrian deaths were in Bernalillo County, underscoring how heavily the county absorbs the statewide total.

The ranking has shifted, but the underlying geography has not. New Mexico ranked No. 1 in pedestrian fatality rate in 2024, then dropped to No. 9 in the Governors Highway Safety Association’s midyear 2025 per-capita ranking before finishing 2025 back at the top. That movement points to volatility in the numbers, not to a solved problem on the ground.

Local agencies have already written that problem into their planning documents. Bernalillo County’s 2025 Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety Action Plan says its purpose is to identify facility needs based on gaps in existing networks and high crash areas. County transportation planning documents continue to prioritize pedestrian and bicyclist capital projects, while Albuquerque’s Vision Zero program keeps its stated goal at zero traffic fatalities and serious injuries.

For Bernalillo County residents, the policy question now is whether those plans will move fast enough to match the danger on Albuquerque corridors where people walk to work, cross arterial roads, and move through intersections that keep showing up in the fatality data.