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These are the crashes we’ve found in news reports about pedestrians injured and killed by drivers so far in 2026. Many crashes don’t make the news, so we know the numbers are higher. We also know the numbers will keep growing before the year is over.

We track these crashes because people deserve to know how often these tragedies are happening.

But there’s so much we can’t learn from a news report: how someone’s recovery is going, how their family is managing, or what it’s like to lose someone in such a horrible way.

October is National Pedestrian Safety Month. We want people to understand what’s happening and why making our roads safer cannot wait.

If you’ve been hit by a driver or lost someone who was, we’re here to listen whenever you’re ready to share. You can reach us through the link in our bio, via our dms, or email [email protected].

People don’t talk much about the financial toll when a loved one is taken by a driver. But money worries can add even more stress to a family’s grief.

The White Line co-founder Michael White spoke with Business Insider about what his family has faced since Magnus was killed: funeral costs, legal and attorney fees, a substantial health insurance lien for Magnus’ hospital stay, paying out-of-pocket for ongoing therapy, drawing from their savings, and leaving a career he could no longer manage while grieving.

People assume insurance will cover everything, and if it doesn’t, you can sue the driver. But insurance has limits. Winning a lawsuit doesn’t guarantee payment if the driver has no insurance, or little to no assets. And in some states, contributory negligence rules can prevent families from recovering anything at all if their loved one is found even 1% at fault.

Families aren’t looking for a windfall. They’re trying to rebuild a life they never wanted; to be made whole. And they still have bills to pay and children to care for. They need support and deserve accountability from the person who shattered their lives. They shouldn’t have to worry about losing their home or draining their savings while grieving someone who should still be here.

Read Michael’s interview in Business Insider: https://www.businessinsider.com/financial-cost-death-grief-losing-child-2026-9 and learn more about the financial toll of losing a child to road violence.

Written by Joshua Nelken-Zitser
Photos by Jimena Peck - Denver Lifestyle and Editorial Photographer

October is National Pedestrian Safety Month. But we’re not giving pedestrians another list of safety tips because people know that drivers can hit them.

And yes, paying attention matters. We’re not saying don’t pay attention - we’re saying that pedestrians can still do everything right and get hit. Someone walking can look both ways, however, they can’t lower the speed limit, build a sidewalk when it ends, or require a car to detect a child and brake. They also can’t decide what happens to a driver who kills someone.

The people with the power to make those changes have responsibilities, too. This month, we’re calling on them to deliver.

Lawmakers, transportation departments, automakers, regulators, the justice system - what are YOU going to do to make it safer for someone to walk, run, cross a street, take their dog for a walk and make it home alive?

We are so tired of the inaction. This month, prioritize pedestrians instead of giving them another “safety tip.”

My name is Amy. I’m one of five people on The White Line team. Yes, you read that right, five. This is a personal post, based on my almost two years in road safety. I hope you read it because it’s really important.

Before this work, I never really noticed that sidewalks just end, literally for no reason. That you rarely see physical barriers between a bike and a speeding vehicle. That some roads are so wide, you could fit an entire building in them, and there’d still be room. And I never realized how frequently a person outside of a car is hit, injured or kil*ed by a driver.

Not all drivers are “bad” people. But whether you’re a good person or not has nothing to do with driving. You see, our transportation system was set up in a way that accounts for zero human error. A glance down at your phone takes a second. In that second, is when “they came out of nowhere” happens. It’s so much worse if you’ve had a drink, you’re tired, you’re speeding, or you’re otherwise impaired and then get behind the wheel.

The White Line is not demonizing drivers. In fact, everyone on our team is a driver. It’s hard not to be in this country that has prioritized speed, profits, and convenience over all of the other things human beings should be safe from.

But there are real solutions, and we know they can save lives. Until enough of us demand these changes, though, they’re not going to happen.

So join me, join us, and spread our message, donate if you can, share what happened to you, or someone you love, add your story to our Human Cost wall (https://www.thewhiteline.org/pages/memorial-wall) so people see how many lives are affected, and help the five of us become the 500 of us.

Brayden Rogers. Haylan Engdahl. Magnus White.
Say their names.
Yesterday, The White Line brought the parents of Milligan cycling team victims Brayden Rogers and Haylan Engdahl - Heather, Chris, Abby and Jon - to Washington, D.C.
We met with lawmakers and told them about our boys. Who they were, and what happened to them. And why families like theirs should not have to keep living this nightmare.
We met with Senators Hagerty, Blackburn and Hickenlooper, Representatives Harshbarger and Neguse, and staff from the offices of Senators Curtis and Duckworth to build support for the Magnus White and Safe Streets for Everyone Act. We are grateful during such a busy time these lawmakers took time to meet and hear our stories.
No parent should have to go to Washington to explain why their child’s life should matter. But that is where we are.
This circle keeps getting bigger. It doesn’t have to. We have technology that can prevent crashes. We have tools that can save lives. We know what needs to change.
Now we need lawmakers to act.
Magnus. Brayden. Haylan. Your parents are making sure your names are heard.
The White Line will make sure all names are heard.

Why is the burden of not getting killed by a driver on the victim?

Of course be careful, look both ways, and pay attention. But why have we built a system that blames the victim first rather than asking:
Why wasn’t the driver paying attention?
Why was the repeat offender allowed to speed?
Why were the crosswalks so far apart?
Why was the street designed with no regard for people’s safety?
Why isn’t there accountability when a driver injures or takes another person’s life?

Instead of looking at the causes of a crash and what solutions can be implemented to avoid the next one, our society often blames the victim first...as we have been trained to do since the 1920’s.

We can’t change the status quo if we don’t ask why the status quo was created to begin with.