CONTACT:

James Corless, STPP, SF (415) 956-7795

Gloria Ohland, STPP, LA (213) 629-2043

Lucrecia Miranda, Para Espanol (415)759-8749

A new report released today finds that pedestrians throughout California are in serious danger navigating streets and intersections that are increasingly built for speed and traffic. Pedestrians account for more than 20 percent of all traffic fatalities statewide. Los Angeles, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Sacramento and Contra Costa counties are named the state's five most dangerous. Other places that rank high on the "Pedestrian Danger Index" include Kern, Stanislaus, Orange and Alameda counties.

Caught in the Crosswalk: Pedestrian Safety in California finds that regions characterized by rapid growth and "suburban sprawl" - areas where wide, high-speed arterials and intersections, big box retail, and scattered, low-density subdivisions are the norm -- are often the most dangerous. Transportation agencies are only adding "insult to injury," according to the report, ignoring the need to protect pedestrians and promoting the removal of crosswalks to let pedestrians "fend for themselves."

With state officials and political leaders continuing to debate the need for a massive increase in transportation spending, the study finds that existing transportation funding is virtually ignoring millions of California pedestrians. Less than one percent of federal traffic safety funds have been spent on pedestrian safety by Caltrans, the state's transportation agency.

"Pedestrians deserve their fair share of transportation funding," said James Corless, Northern California Campaign Manager for the Surface Transportation Policy Project and co-author of the report. "As officials decide how to spend their existing transportation money, their top priority should be making our streets safer for everyone."

The report also focuses on the dangers faced by child pedestrians, and finds that increasing traffic as well as so-called "improvements" to roads have literally driven kids off the streets in the last 30 years. Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, Fresno, and San Diego counties rank as some of the highest for child pedestrian fatality and injury rates. The report found that California children are at far greater risk relative to the rest of the state's population, accounting for nearly one-third of all pedestrian deaths and injuries but representing just one-quarter of the state's population.

Government surveys indicate that the amount that children walk has declined substantially in recent decades, and physical inactivity and childhood obesity are both now at all time highs, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Parents' legitimate fears of traffic have resulted in a devastating loss of childhood independence and mobility - both on foot and by bicycle - and has more recently given rise to so-called 'soccer moms,' a testament to modern-day need to chauffeur children for nearly every trip.

"The statistics on pedestrian deaths are alarming. Our kids are literally being driven off the street," said STPP's Southern California Campaign Manager Gloria Ohland. "This amounts to nothing less than a public health crisis that is being virtually ignored by our transportation officials."

Pedestrian advocates statewide are also calling on California Governor Gray Davis to sign the "Safe Routes to School" bill (AB1475) that would direct nearly $20 million a year in traffic safety funding making it safer for children to walk and bicycle to school. The bill has the support of over 80 organizations statewide including the California Parent Teachers Association (PTA) and the League of California Cities.

The report also points to dozens of towns and cities around the country that have begun implementing newer pedestrian safety measures to reduce fatalities and injuries, often in conjunction with urban and suburban revitalization efforts. In Seattle, Washington, innovative approaches to slowing down residential street traffic known as "traffic calming" through the use of traffic circles, on-street parking and narrower streets have been credited with a 75% reduction in pedestrian fatalities and injuries. In California, similar efforts are being implemented in San Diego, Oakland, Santa Monica, Palo Alto, Davis, and Sacramento. The elimination of restrictive zoning codes that require wide streets, large parking lots and commercial building setbacks can also play a role in creating environments safer and more inviting to pedestrians. Simple measures like sidewalks and crosswalks that are accessible to people with disabilities are also many times overlooked.

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