A recent report issued by the Governors Highway Safety Association states that there were approximately 700 fatal pedestrian accidents in 2014 in California. That tally is consistent with the number of people who died similarly in 2013. National statistics remain level, as well, with over 4,700 pedestrian deaths for both 2013 and 2014. Despite efforts in states across the country to engineer better systems, to educate the public about safety and to enforce the law, motor vehicles continue to kill pedestrians at the same rate each year.
According to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration, it is estimated that 66,000 people suffered injuries such as broken bones or head trauma in the United States in pedestrian accidents in 2013. Put another way, an average of one walker, jogger or bystander was injured every eight minutes across the country, while every two hours, one hiker or person waiting for a bus was killed in a crash.
California rated above the national average for pedestrian fatalities in 2014, with pedestrians making up 23 percent of all motor vehicle deaths in the state. The national average is 14 percent. The Los Angeles Times reported that speed was a large factor in fatal pedestrian accidents. A person who is hit by a vehicle traveling at 40 miles per hour is three times more likely to die from serious injuries than if the vehicle were traveling at 25 miles per hour. The GHSA reports that approximately one third of national traffic deaths occur due to speeding.
Despite efforts such as It’s All Up to Us, a campaign designed and promoted by the California Department of Public Safety to protect pedestrians, the state maintains a high incidence of pedestrian injury and death.