Cyclists and pedestrians in the Des Moines metro are facing more serious injuries and fatalities due to car collisions in recent years.
Why it matters: Traffic conditions here have become less safe for all road users since 2020, but they're especially pronounced for pedestrians.
State of play: One cause could be that drivers have increased their speeds since 2020 due to a decrease in commuter traffic on the road, Dylan Mullenix, interim executive director of the Des Moines Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), tells Axios.
- "If there's not a lot of people around you, I think people tend to maybe be a little bit more careless," Mullenix says.