Maybe it’s the influx of retirees roaming in their Cadillacs, but the state of Florida has the top four most dangerous metropolitan areas for pedestrians, according to a new nationwide study from the Transportation for America, a Washington-based coalition of private organizations and local governments that lobbies for transportation spending. But metro areas in California don’t get off easy either when it comes to the organization’s rankings. Coming fifth for pedestrian danger in the nation is the Riverside-San Bernardino area of Southern California. Perhaps one of the more alarming findings of the study is that Latinos and African-Americans are about 50 percent more likely to be a pedestrian injury or death victim. This stat reflects a trend across the nation. When it comes to states’ overall rankings, the Golden State takes the 16th position as the most dangerous state for pedestrians.
Here are how major metro areas in California rank, according to the study:
5. Riverside-San Bernardino
21. Sacramento
27. Los Angeles-Long Beach
28. San Diego-Carlsbad
30. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara
41. San Francisco-Oakland
The organization that conducted the study pushes for more funding to improve design and safety precautions in metro areas so that fewer pedestrians in America are killed or injured. Some other major highlights from the report include the following:
- 6,957 pedestrians were killed in California between 2000 and 2009
- 67 percent of all pedestrian fatalities occurred on roads that are eligible to receive federal funding for construction or improvement, with federal guidelines or oversight for their design.
- Nearly 60 percent of pedestrian fatalities from 2000 to 2009 occurred on roads with speed limits of 40 mph or greater. Pedestrians have only a 15 percent chance of surviving a collision with a car traveling 40 mph.
- In California between 2000 and 2007, the average pedestrian death rate for Hispanics was 3.1 per 100,000 people, a rate 97 percent higher than the 1.6 rate for non-Hispanic whites.
- Nationwide, 3,880pedestrians 15 years and younger were killed between 2000 and 2007. 526 of those killed were in California.
The report emphasizes that many pedestrian injuries and deaths — as well as those of motorists — are preventable with low-cost design features and retrofits. You can read the full study here.
A good tip for drivers and pedestrians is to keep it cool, no matter what happens in the road. The worst part about road rage is losing a life for irrational reasons. I hope these figures decrease in the years to come.
Posted by: Guy Chambliss | December 22, 2011 at 06:25 AM