Journalists: Here’s how to produce less horrible stories about pedestrians and cyclists getting killed

The numbers are simply staggering: More than 7,000 American pedestrians and bike riders are killed in a typical year (according to data compiled by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). That’s more than 19 deaths on a typical day.

As a career journalist who has covered this issue for many years, I read or watch hundreds of news stories every month about these unfortunate incidents, and I am afraid to report that most of this coverage suffers from the same systematic and easily fixable shortcomings. This is equally true for the most prominent newspapers in America and small-town digital-only outlets, as common for the major news networks as with small-market outlets.

With that in mind, I’d like to propose some simple best practices for writers, editors, and other news-content producers who cover pedestrian and cyclist deaths. The issue matters because collectively, the flawed coverage of these deaths amplifies public misperceptions of the both the individual incidents and the broader problems that cause them.

If you are wondering about my expertise on this matter, here is a very brief summary of my background. I’ve been a writer and editor for more than 30 years, including a stint as the editor in chief of…