Pedestrians Account for 1/3 of Los Angeles Traffic Fatalities
Los Angeles’s large suburban area accounts for a significant amount of fatal accidents, of which, a third are pedestrian related. That rate of pedestrian related fatalities is well above the national average, according to a study done by the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute.
A NY-standard yield-to-peds sign on Roosevelt Island, New York City. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Drivers in Los Angeles kill pedestrians and bicyclists at about three times higher than the national average of 11.4%. Of that, 3% of the fatalities were bicyclists, which is almost twice of the 1.7% national average.
Michael Sivak, a professor at the institute and a study coauthor along with Shan Bao told Los Angeles Times that “This is a matter of exposure. When you look at large urban areas you have a wider mix of road users.” Therefore, it is important to look at the overall picture when it comes to studying traffic accidents and finding ways to reduce them. There are certain areas of the city that have a higher concentration of traffic accidents and fatalities. “You can look at the kinds of crashes in which the city is overrepresented and say that those are the areas that safety and traffic officials should pay more attention to,” Sivak said.
Crash rates were for the study included nationwide figures of accident fatalities on public roads with a focus on Los Angeles and New York. Data was obtained from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, California Highway Patrol and the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles. The database included 449,498 crashes within Los Angeles city limits, with 2,086 crashes that involved at least one death during the eight-year period of 2002 through 2009. Urban New York pedestrian fatalities were higher than L.A. with 49.6% of traffic fatalities were pedestrians while 6.1% were bicyclists.
At least 20% of all trips that occur in Los Angeles County are either on foot or bike. Funding for transportation improvements in regards to pedestrians or cyclists is less than 1% of the city’s budget.
“If we want to get serious about traffic safety, we need to get serious about funding equity so we can build infrastructure that allows people to walk and bike safely around their communities,” Erick Bruins, planning and policy director for the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition told the LA Times. “Our current metrics value automobile throughput over traffic safety.”
General traffic safety should be considered in regards to improving the overall safety of Angelino commuters. Further finding included the discovery that women who lived in Los Angeles were less likely to be in an accident than men. In the city, men accounted for a higher proportion of fatalities than the national average, 62.3% compared with 57.6%.
If you have been injured in a Los Angeles traffic accident, contact our Los Angeles injury attorneys today!
Reviewed by Chris H. in 2012.