Statewide data reveals that pedestrian deaths account for more than 20 percent of all traffic-related fatalities in California each year. Because of current trends in land use and transportation policy—including rapid suburbanization, the widening of streets and intersections, and the removal of crosswalks—pedestrians are facing increasingly hostile physical environments. At the same time transportation officials are reluctant to recognize that there’s a pedestrian safety problem, as indicated by the fact that agencies spend as little as one percent of their federal traffic safety funding on pedestrians.

As a result, pedestrian activity is declining sharply—particularly among children, a demographic group whose mobility has been dramatically curtailed over the past several decades as sprawling suburban development and fears about traffic have increasingly forced parents to play chauffeur. The fact that fewer people are walking and bicycling to their destinations has coincided with increasing concern on the part of health officials about rising levels of inactivity and obesity among the general population and children in particular—turning pedestrian safety into a critical public health issue.

An analysis of 1998 California pedestrian injury and fatality statistics shows that the most dangerous places for pedestrians are often characterized by wide, high speed streets and scattered low-density development. Southern California, Silicon Valley and Central Valley counties are some of the most dangerous places for pedestrians in the state. Many local efforts aimed at making communities more walkable by slowing the speed of traffic in neighborhoods, and bringing back traditional, mixed-use, compact development have been successful both within California and elsewhere across the country.

The report concludes by making specific recommendations for improving pedestrian safety. These include: making pedestrian safety a high priority in transportation planning and funding processes; matching pedestrian safety funding to pedestrian deaths-–since 20 percent of all traffic fatalities are pedestrians, pedestrians should get at least 20 percent of traffic safety funding; striking a better balance between the needs of pedestrians and the needs of motorists; and encouraging cities to adopt design standards that promote more pedestrian friendly development.