THE STATUS OF PEDESTRIAN SAFETY EFFORTS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

PEDESTRIAN FATALITIES COMPRISE ABOUT 18% OF ALL HIGHWAY FATALITIES; IN METROPOLITAN AREAS, MORE THAN HALF THE HIGHWAY FATALITIES ARE PEDESTRIANS. THE NUMBER, CURRENTLY ABOUT 9,800 ANNUALLY, HAS BEEN INCREASING SINCE 1962. TWO AGE GROUPS ACCOUNT FOR OVER HALF THE FATALITIES: THOSE BELOW 15 AND THOSE ABOVE 64. ALCOHOL IS HEAVILY IMPLICATED IN ADULT PEDESTRIAN FATALITIES. ILLUMINATION/VISIBILITY APPEARS TO BE A FACTOR, AND ALSO PEDESTRIANS' UNFAMILIARITY WITH THE DRIVER'S TASK; MANY ADULT VICTIMS ARE NOT LICENSED DRIVERS. PEDESTRIAN SAFETY EFFORT OF DOT IS FAR BELOW WHAT IS WARRANTED BY THE PROPORTION OF HIGHWAY LOSSES IN THIS CATEGORY: NEARLY A FIFTH OF THE ANNUAL 55,000 FATALITIES. RECOMMENDATIONS ARE MADE FOR INCREASED EFFORTS ON THE PART OF DOT AND FOR COORDINATION OF THE EFFORTS OF DIFFERENT AGENCIES OF DOT. /HSL/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • 18 PP
• Corporate Authors:

  National Transportation Safety Board

  490 L'Enfant Plaza, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20594
• Publication Date: 1971

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Age; Alcohols; Crash causes; Fatalities; Highway safety; Pedestrian vehicle crashes; Pedestrians; Safety; Urban areas; Visibility
• Subject Areas: Highways; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00223829
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Highway Safety Literature
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 17 1972 12:00AM