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Pedestrian Safety Report – California has the Most Dangerous Cities in America

This shouldn’t be such a surprise to Los Angeles pedestrian accident lawyers.  However, it is still discouraging to learn that there has not been much progress made since the last time Transportation for America presented its annual pedestrian safety report which determined California cities as the most dangerous cities in America.  This year’s report includes the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario region as one of the top 5 most dangerous regions for pedestrians in the country.

The report is titled Dangerous by Design, and outlines the continued dangers that California’s pedestrians face.  California cities featured very prominently as some of the most dangerous cities for pedestrians in the country in the 2010 list too.  In this year’s list, the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario area occupies fifth place as the most dangerous region in the country for pedestrians.  This particular region has a Pedestrian Danger Index of 139.2.  There had been a total of 938 pedestrian accident fatalities in this region between 2000 and 2009.

The Pedestrian Danger Index is a measure that Transportation for America researchers used to determine how safe a particular region was for pedestrians.  This was calculated by computing the number of pedestrian deaths relative to the amount of walking the people in that area typically do, while taking into consideration that cities that have greater numbers of pedestrians would likely have a greater number of accident fatalities.

However, at least four other California regions also occupied a place in the top 50.  The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana area ranked at number 27 on the list with a Pedestrian Danger Index of 76.0.  The other California regions that are mentioned in the top 50 are the Sacramento-Arden-Arcade region which has a Pedestrian Danger Index of 90.7, the San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos area which has a Pedestrian Danger Index of 74.7, the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara region which had a Pedestrian Danger Index of 68.4, and the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont region which has a Pedestrian Danger Index of 38.5.

The most dangerous city for pedestrians in the country is the Orlando-Kissimmee region in Florida whose Pedestrian Danger Index is off the charts at 255.4.  The other cities that are mentioned in the top 50 are:

• Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida
• Jacksonville, Florida
• Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Florida
• Las Vegas-Paradise, Nevada
• Memphis, Tennessee
• Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Arizona
• Houston-Sugarland-Baytown, Texas
• Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas
• Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Georgia
• Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Michigan
• Raleigh-Cary, North Carolina
• Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, Tennessee
• New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, Louisiana
• Birmingham-Hoover, Alabama
• Charlotte-Gastonia-Concorde, North Carolina-South Carolina
• Austin-Round Rock, Texas
• Louisville/Jefferson County, Kentucky/Indiana
• Richmond, Virginia
• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
• St. Louis,-Missouri-Illinois
• San Antonio, Texas
• Tucson, Arizona
• Kansas City, Missouri-Kansas
• Denver-Aurora, Colorado

The report makes special mention of those pedestrians who have few other transportation options.  For instance, people who belong to low income groups, who don’t own a vehicle or ethnic minorities are more likely to need to walk rather than choose to walk.  These people are at a higher risk of pedestrian accidents.  Additionally, the elderly are 96% more likely to be killed in accidents than those below the age of sixty-five.

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