In 1999, nearly 5,000 pedestrians died from traffic-related injuries and another 85,000 sustained nonfatal injuries Children 15 and younger accounted for 12% of all pedestrian fatalities and 32% of all nonfatal pedestrian injuries.

People 65 and older accounted for 22% of all pedestrian deaths and approximately 8% of nonfatal pedestrian injuries. The pedestrian death rate for this age group is higher than for any other age group.

The pedestrian fatality rate is more than twice as high for men as for women.

Hit-and-run incidents account for one out of five pedestrian deaths.

In 1999, approximately one-third of pedestrians 14 and older who were killed by a motor vehicle were intoxicated, with blood alcohol concentrations of 0.10% or more.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University are studying community characteristics that may affect interventions to prevent child pedestrian injuries. They are comparing four neighborhoods that vary by both risk of pedestrian injury and median household income to assess—

Environmental characteristics, such as traffic patterns, roadways, and play areas;

Parents' perceptions of risk;

Parents' knowledge of and willingness to support environmental changes and other pedestrian safety programs;

Level of parental supervision;

Amount and patterns of walking by children in the community;

Injury experiences of child pedestrians.

To improve pedestrian safety, we must continue to engage the efforts of many diverse groups and encourage development, implementation, and evaluation of a variety of strategies to prevent pedestrian injuries, including: Strategies to improve road-sharing and to separate pedestrians from traffic;

Pedestrian safety education programs;

Traffic-calming measures such as roundabouts and speed bumps;

Enforcement strategies, such as red light cameras and ways to stop drivers from illegally passing school buses. We must also find effective ways to educate parents and drivers about children's developmental abilities to interact safely with traffic.

Child Pedestrians: A High-Risk Group

Children are at increased risk for pedestrian injuries for several reasons:

Their smaller size makes them difficult for drivers to see, especially if they are standing between parked cars on the side of the road.

Because young children are often unable to judge distances and vehicle speeds accurately, they can easily misjudge whether it is safe to cross a street.

Parents can over-estimate their children's ability to cross the street. Many elementary school-aged children don't understand traffic signals and don't know how to anticipate drivers' actions.

Drivers and child pedestrians each assume (incorrectly) that the other will yield the right-of-way.