Age, alcohol factors in fatal crashes
WASHINGTON (UPI) - The elderly, the young and the inebriated are most at risk in fatal vehicle crashes involving pedestrians, according to report released by the US Department of Transportation.
The analysis by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found 20 percent of the pedestrians killed in traffic accidents between 1998 and 2001 were victims of hit-and-run drivers. More than one in five children ages 5 to 9 killed in traffic crashes were pedestrians.
Nearly 175,000 pedestrians were killed on US roadways between 1975 and 2001, about 12 percent of all deaths involving motor vehicles during that period.
"Clearly, some of the most vulnerable members of our society - the young and elderly - are often the victims of serious pedestrian crashes," said NTHSA Administrator Jeffrey W. Runge. "And the involvement of alcohol in many of these fatal crashes makes them especially senseless."
Alcohol was involved in 37 percent of the deadly crashes involving pedestrians and 18 percent of the fatal accidents involving drivers. Seventy-eight percent of the pedestrian deaths were not at intersections. Sixty-four percent occurred in cities or towns, 44 percent on roads with no crosswalks and 18 percent between midnight and 6 am.
Sixty-three percent of the pedestrians killed were male.
Detroit had the nation's highest fatality rate, 5.05 per 100,000 population - twice that of New York City - followed by Denver, Phoenix, San Francisco and Dallas. Seattle had the lowest, 1.78.
"We have a lot of problems with accidents,"
Deputy Police Chief Harold Cureton told the Detroit Free Press.
"We have a lot of unlicensed drivers. We have a lot of car
accidents, and a lot of them involve pedestrians."
Michigan, home to Motown, ranked 19th in pedestrian death rates
in 2001. Michigan Land Use Institute manager Kelly Thayer said
the state is not pedestrian-friendly.
"There are some states where pedestrians come first and Michigan isn't one of them," Thayer said.
New Mexico had the highest rate of pedestrian deaths, 3.94 per 100,000 population, and North Dakota had the lowest rate, 0.47 percent.