The number of Chicago pedestrians being hit by cars is on the rise. That’s according to new numbers released by the Illinois Department of Transportation, showing a spike in pedestrian deaths across the state. 

46 pedestrians died in Chicago in 2015, marking a 31 percent increase from the year before. 

DePaul University’s Joseph Schwieterman researches urban planning and transportation. 

He attributes the spike to an increase in driving in Chicago. 

“With fuel prices being low, people are hitting the roads more”, Schwieterman said. “Visibility gets difficult, traffic gets tied up, people get more frustrated and that translates into aggressive driving”. 

Schwieterman says it doesn’t help that both pedestrians and drivers are increasingly addicted to staring at their phones.