The Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metropolitan area is one of the most dangerous places for pedestrians in the nation, according to a new report released Tuesday.

That area had 938 pedestrian fatalities between 2000 and 2009, according to the report, titled “Dangerous by Design” from the organization Transportation for America.

Researchers used a “pedestrian danger index” for each large metro area that measures the “rate of pedestrian deaths relative to the amount of walking in that area,” the report said.

California’s overall pedestrian danger index was 71, ranking 16th nationally, with a total of 6,957 deaths between 2000 and 2009.

While the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana metro area had more than twice as many pedestrian fatalities over the same period, the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario area was given a 139.2 pedestrian danger index, ranking fifth nationally behind four metro areas in Florida.

The areas with the highest pedestrian danger indexes are those where there are low walking rates and a high number of pedestrian deaths.

“People who walk in these areas have the highest chance of being killed while walking,” the report said. “These areas are dominated by lower density and automobile-oriented development patterns that rarely account for the safety of pedestrians."

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-- Ari Bloomekatz