>> Does this reflect safer streets, or just fewer (esp. unsupervised) child pedestrians? Probably both. The streets are probably "safer" because there are fewe

>> Does this reflect safer streets, or just fewer (esp. unsupervised) child pedestrians? Probably both. The streets are probably "safer" because there are fewer pedestrians-car interactions. We now have walking trails and such separate from roads. And driving kids around in vehicles might be bad environmentally, but if we are talking about traffic deaths then it is a legitimate tool (ie busses rather than kids walking to school). I suspect much of it is simply that kids no longer wander around on roads. They spend less time outside and when they do it isn't near roads. But the numbers between the 1970s and 2020s are so dramatic that one must conclude that roads are generally safer places for everyone today.