Michelle Obama's 'Get Moving' Program Linked to Pedestrian Deaths

by Mark Weaver
WMAL.com

WASHINGTON -- The Governors Highway Safety Association says pedestrian deaths increased in the first half of 2010 and the First Lady's program to get Americans to be more active could be partly responsible.

Governors Highway Safety Administration spokesman Jonathan Adkins told 630 WMAL that Michelle Obama is "trying to get us to walk to work and exercise a little bit more.  While that's good, it also increases our exposure to risk."

After four straight years of steady declines, pedestrian deaths were up during the first six months of 2010, the latest figures available to be studied.

Other factors include distracted drivers, distracted pedestrians and what Adkins calls "aggressive pedestrians."

"People who are not crossing where they are supposed to.  They're running in front of cars.  We've even had examples of pedestrians getting out on the interstate," said Adkins.

Alcohol is also factor in increased pedestrian deaths.

"We've done a good job of getting people, after a night out of partying, to leave their keys behind.  But just because you are walking does not mean you are not at risk," said Adkins.

Pedestrians are also increasingly distracted by iPods and smart phones.  It is not uncommon to see people crossing streets while fiddling with an electronic device and not watching where they are walking.  Hospital emergency rooms have reported an upsurge of people injured in a fall because they were distracted by electronics. 

Significant increases in pedestrian deaths occurred in Arizona, Florida, Oklahoma, Oregon and North Carolina.  In the DC Metro area, pedestrian deaths were down in Maryland but up in DC 

(1/20/2011 5:25:33 PM)
This is very clever if read as satire.
- Michael Grimm
(1/20/2011 5:10:40 PM)
This asinine assertion has already been indexed by Google off of pseudoconservive FOX "News" obeyer's web sites and blogs 209 times. It is astonishing how quickly a lie becomes "truth" among the fascist lunatics fighting their War On Thought battles.
- Desertphle
(1/20/2011 5:01:10 PM)
I cant stand Michelle, but you cant pin this on her.
- Mike g
(1/20/2011 5:00:52 PM)
"The preliminary data showed that the number of pedestrian traffic fatalities in the United States for the first six months of 2010 was essentially unchanged from 2009..." Do you or Drudge bother to read this stuff? http://www.ghsa.org. You guys are a joke. Wonder how many people just read the Drudge headline and didn't realize it was more right wing garbage? Oh well, free speech.
- Tom
(1/20/2011 4:59:12 PM)
I can't stand Michelle. In fact I don't like her more than Barack. Look at the man, he is loosing so much weight cause of the healthy food and exercise fascist that Michelle is Barack can not get a cheese burger in the White House. And plus, you know she wears the pants in the family.