Let's look at more facts about pedestrian crash fatalities in the United States.
When does it happen?
Every 107 minutes a pedestrian dies from a crash. On average, a pedestrian is struck every 12 minutes, every day.
New Year’s Day and Halloween account for the highest number of pedestrian fatalities, consistently 20%. The third day has changed from December 23 to December 1. October, November and December account for 32% of all pedestrian crashes.
Weekends are deadliest for pedestrians. More than 45% of all pedestrian crashes occur on Friday, Saturday and Sunday with nearly 18% occurring on Saturday.
Three hours pedestrians should stay off the road are 6-9 p.m., when 25% of the deaths occur. Another 21% happen between 9 p.m. and midnight. Only 6% happen between 9 a.m. and noon. Darkness is considered the number one factor.
Who gets killed?
More than 33,000 men were killed. Even though men represent 49% of the American population, they are killed in pedestrian crashes 69% of the time.
60% of pedestrians killed are white and 15% black. American Indian, Pacific Islanders and Asian represent another 5%. 19% of the deaths were determined to be of unknown race, based on corresponding death certificates.
Contrary to public perception, children under 16 only account for 10% of pedestrian deaths each year, even though children make up 21% of the American population.
People over 65 represent 13% of the population, yet represent 21% of the pedestrian fatalities. Different factors cited in this anomaly are frailty, poorer mobility and poorer eyesight.
Why does it happen?
In most cases, the pedestrian has to bear some of the blame for the crash. Their actions are represented by the following statistics:
Percentage/Action
27.3 Improperly crossed the street
25.4 Walked against the traffic flow
13.9 Failed to yield the right of way
12.1 Darted into the flow of traffic
9.8 Not visible to the driver
2.6 Were inattentive to traffic
1.5 Failed to obey traffic control
More than one-fourth of the deaths occurred because the pedestrian crossed the street improperly. Another fourth of all pedestrian deaths were attributed to walking, working or playing near the road. Nearly 14% of the crashes were caused by the pedestrian failing to yield to the vehicle.
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Showing posts with label pedestrian fatalities. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pedestrian fatalities. Show all posts
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Pedestrian Fatalities: On the decrease & Where
What do New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Phoenix and Houston have in common? More pedestrian deaths than all other cities in the United States.
Pedestrian deaths are on the decline. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration commissioned a ten year study to examine the trends in crashes resulting in pedestrian deaths.
Twelve percent of all vehicle crash deaths are pedestrians. This means they are not occupants of a vehicle, motorcycle riders or bicycle riders: they are on foot.
The study, authored by Dow Chang, Ph.D. and P.E., revealed trends in those killed and the conditions under which they were killed.
A look at the numbers
Between 1997 and 2007, the number of pedestrian deaths decreased from 5,321 to 4,784, representing a decrease of nearly 10%. Pedestrians are the only group of people whose fatality statistics have declined. They represent 12% of all fatalities in vehicle crashes.
While this sounds like good news, the chances of being killed has increased. In 1997, the chances a pedestrian would be killed in a crash was 5.3%. By 2006, that chance increased to 7.1%.
What did not change over the decade was the number of pedestrians killed in single vehicle crashes. Ten times more pedestrians are killed each year by single vehicles than those killed by multiple car crashes.
Where does it happen?
You already read about the top five cities, but there is more. Cities do account for 67% of the fatalities, but 87% of the cities in the United States do not report any fatalities. More than 90% of the cities which did have fatalities had nine or fewer. Less than 1% of cities had over 100 pedestrian fatalities.
Pedestrians are not being killed on the Interstate highway system, which forbids pedestrian travel. Nor are they on interstate highway roads (10%) or expressways (only 4%), instead 51% of pedestrians are killed on major traffic arteries around and inside cities. Local roads and streets accounted for another 30%.
The top five states are New Mexico, Florida and Arizona, with Washington D.C. and Nevada tied. Per capita, these states average more than 2.5 pedestrian deaths per 100,000 population.
Tomorrow we will look into when these crashes happen, to whom and why.
Visit Virginia's Dream. International shipping available on request.
Pedestrian deaths are on the decline. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration commissioned a ten year study to examine the trends in crashes resulting in pedestrian deaths.
Twelve percent of all vehicle crash deaths are pedestrians. This means they are not occupants of a vehicle, motorcycle riders or bicycle riders: they are on foot.
The study, authored by Dow Chang, Ph.D. and P.E., revealed trends in those killed and the conditions under which they were killed.
- Men are more likely to be killed as pedestrians than women.
- January 1 and October 31 were the deadliest days of the year.
- People over the age of 64 are more likely to be killed as pedestrians.
- Blood alcohol content (BAC) increase the probability of dying as a pedestrian.
- 58% of pedestrian deaths are not in a crosswalk.
- Most pedestrian fatality crashes occur between 6 and 9 p.m., on Friday or Saturday, under sleet conditions and/or in the dark.
A look at the numbers
Between 1997 and 2007, the number of pedestrian deaths decreased from 5,321 to 4,784, representing a decrease of nearly 10%. Pedestrians are the only group of people whose fatality statistics have declined. They represent 12% of all fatalities in vehicle crashes.
While this sounds like good news, the chances of being killed has increased. In 1997, the chances a pedestrian would be killed in a crash was 5.3%. By 2006, that chance increased to 7.1%.
What did not change over the decade was the number of pedestrians killed in single vehicle crashes. Ten times more pedestrians are killed each year by single vehicles than those killed by multiple car crashes.
Where does it happen?
You already read about the top five cities, but there is more. Cities do account for 67% of the fatalities, but 87% of the cities in the United States do not report any fatalities. More than 90% of the cities which did have fatalities had nine or fewer. Less than 1% of cities had over 100 pedestrian fatalities.
Pedestrians are not being killed on the Interstate highway system, which forbids pedestrian travel. Nor are they on interstate highway roads (10%) or expressways (only 4%), instead 51% of pedestrians are killed on major traffic arteries around and inside cities. Local roads and streets accounted for another 30%.
The top five states are New Mexico, Florida and Arizona, with Washington D.C. and Nevada tied. Per capita, these states average more than 2.5 pedestrian deaths per 100,000 population.
Tomorrow we will look into when these crashes happen, to whom and why.
Visit Virginia's Dream. International shipping available on request.
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