California Pedestrian Road Accidents
Pedestrian safety is a serious issue. A pedestrian is any person on foot or one who uses a conveyance such as roller skates, skateboards, etc., other than a bicycle.
According to the NHTSA 2007 Traffic Safety Report, in 2007, 70,000 pedestrians were injured and 4,654 were killed in traffic crashes in the United States. Statistics show that one-in-six traffic fatalities is a pedestrian.
The lack of sidewalks, as well as long stretches of road without proper lighting, has been cited as the leading cause for pedestrian accidents. Speeding and driver inattention are also factors for pedestrian road accidents.
A 2005 Dateline report examined the nation’s most dangerous roads for pedestrians. Although California did not take the top spot for the notoriety of being the most dangerous road for pedestrians, it still had roads listed in the top ten.
Florida's US-19, 30 miles of six lanes up Florida's Gulf Coast took first place. With fatalities reaching up to three digits, US-19 is at the top of the list of dangerous roads. Interstate 30 of Dallas 4 was also mentioned in the list as its road cuts across the town as well as Indian School Road in Phoenix for the same reason.
Queens Boulevard in New York was also once called as the Boulevard of Death as back then, pedestrians were killed at the rate of one every six weeks.
Route 66 or Foothill Boulevard which passes through San Bernardino County in Southern California also has the distinction of being one of the most dangerous roads for pedestrians in the country.
California pedestrian fatal accident statistics yielded the following figures:
- In 2005, there were 748 pedestrian fatalities.
- In 2006, the total number of pedestrian fatalities went down to 735.
- 640 pedestrians were killed in California in 2007.
Pedestrian fatalities dropped 11% from 2006 to 2007.This is the lowest annual tally of pedestrian fatalities since 1975.