The number of pedestrians killed along the nation’s roadways has slowly climbed in recent years, even as total traffic fatalities declined.

A Governing analysis of more than 22,000 traffic accidents occurring between 2008 and 2012 finds that pedestrians are killed at disproportionately higher rates in the nation's poorer neighborhoods.

While some regions are safer than others, large cities continue to record a significant numbers of pedestrian fatalities each year. Several localities have responded by making urban landscapes more walkable, stepping up traffic enforcement and launching other initiatives aimed at improving pedestrian safety.

Download report PDF

Read magazine story

Interactive map of fatal accidents

Neighborhoods with highest fatality rates

Results Summary

Governing compiled data on locations of all fatal pedestrian accidents reported in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System from 2008-2012. Using each accident’s geographic coordinates, the total number of accidents was computed for Census tracts, which vary in size, but are similar to neighborhoods.

Within metro areas, low-income census tracts recorded pedestrian fatality rates approximately twice that of more affluent neighborhoods. Examining census tracts’ poverty rates yielded a similar pattern. Metro-area tracts below the national poverty rate of 15 percent registered 5.3 deaths per 100,000 residents over the five-year period. By comparison, poor neighborhoods where more than a quarter of the population lived in poverty had a rate of 12.1 deaths per 100,000 people.

The following tables show 2008-2012 pedestrian death rates for all census tracts within metro areas: