Traffic
Safety Facts
1997
Pedestrians
Traffic
Safety Facts
1997
U.S. Department of Transportation
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
On average, a pedestrian is killed in a traffic crash every 99 minutes.
There were 77,000 pedestrians injured in traffic crashes in 1997.
On average, a pedestrian is injured in a traffic crash every 7 minutes.
Most pedestrian fatalities in 1997 occurred in urban areas (70 percent), at nonintersection locations (79 percent), in normal weather conditions (89 percent), and at night (62 percent).
More than two-thirds (68 percent) of the 1997 pedestrian fatalities were males. The male pedestrian fatality rate per 100,000 population was 2.76 -- more than double the rate for females (1.21 per 100,000 population). The male pedestrian injury rate per 100,000 population was 35, compared with 23 for females (see Table 4).
In 1997, more than one-fourth (29 percent) of all children between the ages of 5 and 9 years who were killed in traffic crashes were pedestrians. One-fifth (20 percent) of all traffic fatalities under age 16 were pedestrians, and 7 percent of all traffic injuries under age 16 were pedestrians.
Older pedestrians (ages 70+) accounted for 17 percent of all pedestrian fatalities and 3 percent of all pedestrian injuries. The death rate for this group, both males and females, was 3.76 per 100,000 population -- higher than for any other age group.
Pedestrian fatalities accounted for 85 percent of all nonoccupant fatalities in 1997. The 813 pedalcyclist fatalities accounted for 13 percent, and the remaining 2 percent were skateboard riders, roller skaters, etc.Forty percent of the 644 pedestrian fatalities under 16 years of age were killed in crashes that occurred between 4:00 PM and 8:00 PM.
Nearly one-half of all pedestrian fatalities occurred on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday: 17 percent, 18 percent, and 13 percent, respectively.
Alcohol involvement -- either for the driver or for the pedestrian -- was reported in 45 percent of the traffic crashes that resulted in pedestrian fatalities. Of the pedestrians involved, 29.5 percent were intoxicated, with blood alcohol concentrations (BAC) of 0.10 grams per deciliter (g/dl) or greater. The intoxication rate for the drivers involved was only 12.5 percent, less than one-half that for the pedestrians. In 5.3 percent of the crashes, both the driver and the pedestrian were intoxicated.In 1997, the highest rate of intoxication for pedestrians killed in traffic crashes was reported for pedestrians 25 to 34 years old. Intoxication rates by age group were as follows: 16 to 20 years, 28.5 percent; 21 to 24 years, 43.1 percent; 25 to 34 years, 49.8 percent; 35 to 44 years, 47.4 percent; 45 to 54 years, 35.9 percent; 55 to 64 years, 26.3 percent; 65 years and older, 9.3 percent.
For all pedestrian fatalities 16 years of age or older, the reported intoxication rate in 1997 was 32.7 percent, 9 percent lower than the 36.1 percent intoxication rate reported for the same group in 1987. By age groups of pedestrian fatalities, changes in intoxication rates over this period were as follows: a 19 percent decrease for those 55 to 64 years old, a 17 percent decrease for those 45 to 54 years old, a 17 percent decrease for those 16 to 20 years old, a 14 percent decrease for those 65 and over, a 12 percent decrease for those 21 to 24 years old, a 7 percent decrease for those 25 to 34 years old, and a 3 percent decrease for those 35 to 44 years old.
