In fiscal year 2025, the city's Vision Zero report counted 81 traffic deaths and 111 serious injuries on Charlotte streets, a 9% jump in fatalities and a 13% jump in serious injuries over the year before1. Pedestrians and cyclists made up only 1.5% of all crashes recorded that year, yet they accounted for 29% of the serious and fatal injuries1. If you were hurt walking or biking in Charlotte, odds are it happened on a small slice of streets that do most of the damage.
The high injury network
The Charlotte Department of Transportation calls that slice the High Injury Network: just 13% of the city's streets, but 80% of its fatal and serious crashes123. A lot of that network isn't even the city's to fix. Independence Boulevard, North Graham Street, Freedom Drive, and Wilkinson Boulevard are among the corridors that show up again and again in local crash trackers, and all four are owned and maintained by NCDOT rather than the city, which slows down how fast redesigns can happen4.
Some intersections carry that history in a single spot. Five people have died at 36th Street and The Plaza since 2019, four of them pedestrians, and the corner sits on the High Injury Network map2. The city has since redesigned nearby Matheson Avenue, cutting it from five travel lanes to three, a "road diet" meant to slow traffic and shorten crossing distances2.
Where pedestrians are getting hurt
2025 added more names to specific addresses. A driver later charged with impaired driving struck a pedestrian on Beatties Ford Road in October; the man died from his injuries months afterward5. In late November, a hit-and-run driver killed a pedestrian on North Tryon Street in Uptown and fled the scene, and CMPD is still looking for the vehicle6. Queen City Nerve's running count of 2025 traffic deaths lists Shamrock Drive, Eastway Drive, College Street, Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Sharon Amity Road, and Rama Road alongside Independence Boulevard and Wilkinson Boulevard as sites of that year's fatal crashes4. By its tally, 21 of the city's 63 traffic deaths in calendar year 2025 were pedestrians and 7 were cyclists4.
South Boulevard carries its own hazard: the LYNX Blue Line runs down the middle of it, and people crossing to reach South End's shops and apartments have been struck by trains more than once. After safety concerns at the crossing near Morehead Street, City Council approved a $1.3 million contract in February 2025 to rebuild it in a "Z" configuration with audible warnings and flashing lights, work expected to finish in early 2026 as a new I-277 pedestrian bridge nearby is expected to send even more foot and bike traffic through that same crossing7.
Cyclists at risk
Cyclists have died in similarly specific spots. A driver who admitted to drinking beforehand struck and killed a cyclist riding the wrong way in a bike lane on East Woodlawn Road near Old Pineville Road in January 20258. Four months later, a semi-truck struck and killed 73-year-old cyclist William Sterling Yoder at the intersection of East Woodlawn Road and Park Road8. In September, CMPD responded to a fatal bicycle crash on the 1600 block of E.W.T. Harris Boulevard in University City9.
Why crashes keep happening
Speeding and improper vehicle operation, things like unsafe turns or failing to yield, together accounted for more than 60% of Charlotte's fatal and serious crashes in FY25: 34% speeding, 30% improper operation, 16% disregarding a signal or sign, 11% distracted driving, and 4% impaired driving1. The report also found a racial gap: Black residents make up 34% of Charlotte's population but 44% of the people killed or seriously injured in traffic crashes1.
The bigger picture across North Carolina
Charlotte's pedestrian problem isn't new. NCDOT's own Walk Bike NC safety data shows Charlotte logged more pedestrian crashes than any other city in the state between 2008 and 2012, averaging almost 374 a year, and Mecklenburg County ranked second statewide for bicycle crashes over that same stretch10. Statewide, NCDOT reports 150 to 165 pedestrian deaths and 16 to 20 bicyclist deaths on North Carolina roads in a typical year10. A 2023 federal grant of $4.4 million, funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, targeted the two highest tiers of the High Injury Network specifically, paying for pedestrian hybrid beacons, refuge islands, buffered bike lanes, and leading pedestrian intervals, with 77% of the funded projects sited in or bordering underserved communities11.
What's changing
Charlotte voters approved a transportation bond in November 2024 that put $20 million toward Vision Zero work in 2025 and 202613. In FY25, the city already lowered speed limits on 82 streets and added safer crossings, including new pedestrian hybrid beacons and rapid rectangular flashing beacons, at 39 locations13. For FY26, the city says it wants to move past low-cost fixes on the worst corridors and toward full redesigns, road diets, protected bike lanes, and raised crosswalks, along with speed cameras in high-risk zones and closer coordination with NCDOT on the state-maintained roads that dominate the High Injury Network3.
NCDOT is separately planning a roughly $905 to $958 million widening of Independence Boulevard (U.S. 74) between I-277 and I-485, under project numbers U-6103 and U-2509, with improvements at Margaret Wallace Road and Arequipa Drive in east Charlotte the first piece slated to start construction in 202712.
If you're hit
If you were hurt while walking or riding a bike on any of these corridors, who owns the road matters. A crash on a state-maintained street like Independence Boulevard or Wilkinson Boulevard can involve different notice requirements and different responsible parties than one on a city street, and getting that distinction right early can matter for a claim. An attorney who handles Charlotte pedestrian and bicycle cases can help sort out who's responsible and which evidence, crash reports, signal timing, High Injury Network status, actually carries weight. You can find one through thatcarhitme.com's legal directory.
This article is general information, not legal advice.
Sources
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City of Charlotte, Vision Zero FY25 Report: https://www.charlottenc.gov/files/sharedassets/city/v/3/city-government/departments/documents/audit/report/fy2025/25-02-vision-zero.pdf
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WSOC-TV, "Fatal crashes in Charlotte increase for third consecutive year": https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/most-deadly-crashes-happen-just-13-charlotte-streets-new-report-shows/ZWHMN5FU5ZAYLB2SEN4HPW3RNA/
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Sustain Charlotte, "Reflecting on Charlotte's 2025 Vision Zero Report and the Path Ahead for FY26": https://sustaincharlotte.org/reflecting-on-charlottes-2025-vision-zero-report-and-the-path-ahead-for-fy26/
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Queen City Nerve, "Tracking Vehicle-Related Deaths on Charlotte Streets in 2025": https://qcnerve.com/vision-zero-traffic-related-deaths/
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WCNC, "Pedestrian struck by alleged drunk driver dies months after crash, CMPD says": https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/crime/deadly-crash-beatties-ford-road-impaired-driver-charged/275-ee2c84e6-0e9c-4f48-81fa-9ee1c7132788
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WCNC, "CMPD seeks driver in fatal hit-and-run on North Tryon Street in Uptown": https://www.wcnc.com/article/traffic/deadly-ne-charlotte-crash-11-29-2025/275-ba36af72-ac33-45ab-8c18-d1035b16e7a9
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Yahoo News (WCNC), "Charlotte city leaders approve pedestrian safety upgrades at South End light rail crossing": https://www.yahoo.com/news/charlotte-city-leaders-approve-pedestrian-043727196.html
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WCNC, "Woman pleads guilty in drunk-driving crash that killed cyclist in south Charlotte": https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/crime/deadly-crash-kills-cyclist-driver-plea-deal-dwi-east-woodlawn-road-charlotte/275-a31ad416-d2b2-4458-bc72-0a12fc6af441
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City of Charlotte, CMPD Newsroom, "Fatal Crash Investigation in the University City Division": https://www.charlottenc.gov/cmpd/News-Information/Newsroom/New-page-92
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NCDOT, Walk Bike NC, "Existing Conditions": https://www.ncdot.gov/bikeped/walkbikenc/safety_post/existing-conditions
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Office of U.S. Senator Thom Tillis, "Tillis Announces $4.4 Million Grant to Improve Intersections and Protect Pedestrians Around Charlotte": https://www.tillis.senate.gov/2023/1/tillis-announces-4-4-million-grant-to-improve-intersections-and-protect-pedestrians-around-charlotte
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NCDOT, "Proposed Improvements to Independence Boulevard (U.S. 74) - Mecklenburg County": https://www.ncdot.gov/news/public-meetings/Pages/U-6103-U-2509-2024-07-03.aspx