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Articles in Traffic collisions cause pedestrian death and disability.

  • 42,000 people died in traffic related incidents nationally in 2001. 5,000 were pedestrian deaths and there were 100,000 pedestrian injuries.

    Ernst M. 2004. Mean Streets 2004: How far have we come? Surface Transportation Policy Project. Available at http://www.transact.org/library/reports_html/ms2004/pdf/Final_Mean_Streets_2004_4.pdf http://www.transact.org/library/reports_html/ms2004/pdf/Final_Mean_Streets_2004_4.pdf.

     

  • Over 700 people walking on San Francisco streets are injured or killed by cars annually. The population rate of injuries, approximately 100/100,000 resident population, is approximately five times the Healthy People 2010 Objective of no more than 20 injuries and fatalities per 100,000 population.

    CCSF MTA (City and County of San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Traffic Engineering Division), 2007. San Francisco 2006 Collision Report. San Francisco, CA. http://www.sfmta.com/cms/rtraffic/documents/Collision_report_2006.pdf, accessed on 8 April 2008.
    USDHHS (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services), 2000. Healthy People 2010: Understanding and Improving Health. 2nd ed., U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.

     

  • While 11% of traffic deaths nationally are to pedestrians, 50% of traffic deaths in San Francisco are people walking on the city's streets.

    CCSF MTA (City and County of San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Traffic Engineering Division), 2007. San Francisco 2006 Collision Report. San Francisco, CA. http://www.sfmta.com/cms/rtraffic/documents/Collision_report_2006.pdf, accessed on 8 April 2008.

     

  • There are more pedestrian/auto accidents in urban areas because they have more people and cars; however, the risk of fatality in a rural area is double or even triple the rate in urban areas (depending on the type of road on which the crash occurs). Very few of those fatalities occur on highways; more occur on collector and local roads, where there are more pedestrians.

    Federal Highway Administration. Speeding in rural areas. US Department of Transportation, 2006. Available at: http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/speed_manage/docs/speeding_rural.pdf. Accessed on August 29, 2009.

     

  • California’s pedestrian fatality rates are much higher than the nation’s, with pedestrians accounting for more than 17% of motor vehicle deaths in California.

    CA Dept. of Transportation. California State Highway Strategic Plan 2007- 2012. Available at http://www.dot.ca.gov/. Accessed December 18, 2008.

     

  • A study conducted in European Union countries found that, compared with a person in a car, a person on a motorized two-wheeler is 20 times more likely to be killed for each kilometre travelled; a person on foot 9 times more likely; and a person on a bicycle 8 times more likely. A person in a car, however, is 10 times more likely to be killed than a passenger in a bus or coach and 20 times more likely to be killed than a passenger in a train.

    World Health Organization (WHO), Edited by Margie Penden, Richard Scurfield, David Sleet, et al. World Report on road traffic injury prevention, 2004.

     

  • Traffic crashes continue to be the greatest single cause of death and disabilities for Americans in the 1-44 years of age.

    Litman, Todd (Victoria Transportation Policy Institute), 2003. Integrating public health objectives in transportation decision-making (editorial).

     

  • Although the U.S. has one of the lowest traffic fatality rates per vehicle-mile, it has one of the highest traffic fatality rates per capita.

    Litman, Todd (Victoria Transportation Policy Institute), 2003. Integrating public health objectives in transportation decision-making (editorial).

     

  • The perception of collision risk prevents people from cycling. In a survey of adults in the Vancouver metropolitan area, the top deterrents were the risk of injury from car-bike collisions; the risk from motorists who don't know how to drive safely near bicycles; motorized vehicles driving faster than 50 km/hr; and streets with a lot of car, bus, and truck traffic.

    Reynolds CCO, Harris MA, Teschke K, Cropton PA, Winters M. The impact of transportation infrastructure on bicycling injuries and crashes: a review of the literature. Environmental Health, 2009; 8:47.