Pedestrians

General:

• Pedestrian fatalities are the second largest category of deaths from traffic crashes (motor vehicle occupants are the largest). Pedestrian fatalities accounted for 85 of all nonoccupant fatalities in 2000. (IIHS)
  
• On average, in the United States, a pedestrian is killed in a traffic crash approximately every 111 minutes.
• Approximately every 7 minutes, a pedestrian is injured. (NHTSA)
  
• In 1998, 5,220 pedestrians were killed in traffic crashes in the United States-a decrease of about 24 percent from the 6,870 pedestrians killed in 1988. (NHTSA)
  
• In 2000, 78,000 pedestrians were injured in traffic crashes in the United States. (NHTSA)
  
• In 2000, more than two-thirds (68 percent) of the pedestrians killed in traffic crashes in the United States were males. The fatality rate for male pedestrians was 2.40 deaths per 100,000 of the U.S. population-more than double the rate for female pedestrians (1.07 deaths per 100,000 of the U.S. population). The injury rate for male pedestrians was 33 injuries per 100,000 of the U.S. population compared with 23 for female pedestrians. (NHTSA)
  
• Virginia had 930 traffic fatalities in 2000; 92 of them (9.9 percent) were pedestrian fatalities. (2000 Virginia Traffic Crash Facts)
  
• Seventeen percent of pedestrian deaths occur in hit-and-run crashes. (IIHS)

Age:

• In 2000, pedestrians 70 and older accounted for 17 percent of all pedestrian fatalities and 6 percent of all pedestrian injuries. The death rate for pedestrians in this age group, both males and females, was 3.18 deaths per 100,000 of the U.S. population-higher than for pedestrians in any other age group. (NHTSA)
  
• In 2000, almost one-fourth (23 percent) of all children between the ages of 5 and 9 years old who were killed in traffic crashes were pedestrians. Nearly one-fifth (18 percent) of those under age 16 who were killed in traffic crashes and 7 percent of those under age 16 who were injured in traffic crashes were pedestrians. (NHTSA)
  
• Darting into the road is the most common cause of pedestrian fatalities involving children under age 15. (NHTSA)
  
• Child (0 to 9 years old) pedestrian deaths per 100,000 of the U.S. population decreased 80 percent between 1975 and 2000. Children in this age group previously had the second highest pedestrian death rate but now have the lowest. (IIHS)

Location and Time:

• In 2000, 71 percent of pedestrian fatalities occurred in large urban areas, at non-intersections (78 percent), in normal weather (91 percent), and at night (64 percent). (NHTSA)
  
• Nearly one-half of all pedestrian fatalities in 2000 occurred on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday: 16 percent, 18 percent, and 14 percent, respectively. (NHTSA)

Alcohol Involvement:

• Almost one-third of all adult pedestrians fatally injured in traffic crashes have blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) of 0.10 percent or more. At night, more than half of all adult pedestrians fatally injured in traffic crashes have BACs of 0.10 percent or more. (IIHS Status Report: Vol. 34, No. 3, March 13, 1999)

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