Cyclists and pedestrians are dying in increasing numbers on U.S. roads, according to recent U.S. government estimates, while overall traffic fatalities, despite a slight drop in 2018, remain up 12 percent since 2014.

The figures, from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, show a 1 percent drop in overall traffic deaths last year, but a 10 percent increase in traffic-related cyclist deaths and a 4 percent rise in the number of pedestrians killed. The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Center for Health Communication is planning to tackle a major cause: distracted driving.

The center is joining forces with a Hollywood animation studio and a New York ad firm to develop a campaign aimed at raising awareness of the need for drivers to remain focused, a problem that has proved resistant to efforts by legislatures, federal and state agencies, insurance companies, carmakers, nonprofits, and others.

Learn more.