CDC Study Examines Traffic Crash Pedestrian-Related Deaths

A recent CDC study found that each year more than 4,000 pedestrians die from motor vehicle crash-related injuries in the United States with certain populations disproportionately impacted.

The study examined pedestrian deaths from traffic crashes over a ten year period between 2001 -2010. During that period, 47,392 pedestrians were killed as a result of traffic accidents. That figure represents 32,873 males and 14,519 females.

The CDC reports that pedestrian travel makes up 10.5 percent of all trips (i.e., any travel from one address to another) taken in the United States, and pedestrians represent 13 percent of all motor vehicle traffic-related deaths.

Findings for the 10-year study period include:

• Traffic-related pedestrian death rates were 2.5 times greater for men than women, and rates increased with age for both sexes.
• American Indians/Alaska Natives had the highest traffic-related pedestrian death rates of all races/ethnicities and whites had the lowest rates.
• People living in large central metro areas had the highest traffic-related pedestrian death rates of all urbanization levels (such as a city or a rural area).
• Death rates were higher for persons aged 75 or older.

The results suggest that the overall pedestrian death rate could increase with the aging and growing racial/ethnic diversity of the population.

The Census Bureau predicts the number of persons aged 75 years or older will more than double, from approximately 18 million in 2011 (6 percent of the U.S. population) to 44 million in 2040 (12 percent of the population); minority racial/ethnic populations are projected to increase from 116 million in 2010 (37 percent of the population) to 186 million in 2040 (49 percent of the population).

Source: CDC