Panini Chowdhury: Our streets aren't made for walking

We all walk when we visit a place, like a downtown. Walking offers a simple confluence of dignity, mobility, and human connection. Yet America’s roadway hierarchy puts human beings at the bottom with streets built for cars instead of people, reflecting a deeper cultural disregard for those on foot.

That habit of disrespect isn’t merely impolite — it’s deadly.

Streets shouldn’t be so dangerous

The Governors Highway Safety Association estimates that more than 7,000 pedestrians were killed last year. Nonfatal harm is equally staggering. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 137,000 emergency department visits for pedestrian injuries between January 2021 and December 2023, each one a story of pain and disruption on what should have been an ordinary walk.

And those harms f