Tracking Vehicle-Related Deaths on Charlotte Streets in 2023 (QC Nerve)
According to Queen City Nerve’s tracking of traffic deaths on Charlotte streets throughout 2023, the total number of people killed in vehicle-related incidents on Charlotte roads last year reached 70, an increase from 2022, which saw 61 such deaths on city streets.
The city saw the same amount of vehicle-related pedestrian deaths in 2023 as the previous year, 20, with four of those coming within the last 10 days of the year between Dec. 22 and 31.
There was also a spike in fatal incidents involving micro-mobility vehicles such as bicycles, scooters, skateboards and wheelchairs. While no such incidents occurred in Charlotte in 2022, there were five reported by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department last year.
According to Shannon Binns, executive director at Sustain Charlotte, the continued threat of death among drivers, pedestrians, cyclists and others is preventable, though it would take more bold action from the city and others to curb it.
“This problem is decades in the making with streets designed for moving vehicles as fast as possible,” Binns told Queen City Nerve. “The city has redesigned many of our streets for greater safety though many more have not changed. To redesign them will require significant political will given that more funding is needed and the fact that many residents are opposed to changes that slow down drivers. Fatalities are avoidable and we will continue to advocate for the needed policy changes and funding.”