Key findings:
- Urban states have the highest rate of pedestrian deaths; New Jersey and New York lead the way.
- An average of 5,436 pedestrians die every year in fatal car crashes.
- Pedestrian deaths are on the rise. In 2017, pedestrian fatality rate was 16.08% — highest in a five-year span since 2013.
- Pedestrians are more likely to be involved in a fatal car crash than motorcyclists and bicyclists.
Look both ways before crossing the street is one of the first lessons we were taught as kids. It helps us to ensure traffic is stopped before we cross the road. However, the old adage isn’t keeping pedestrian road fatalities at a standstill. In 2017, the 16.08% pedestrian road fatality rate was at its highest in a five-year span since 2013. The increase in fatality rates isn’t particularly due to folks forgetting to look both ways before crossing the street.
Unfortunately, we found that pedestrian road fatalities are occuring on busy streets with lots of pedestrians. It would seem unlikely for pedestrians to be fatally hit on a backed up city street during the day. However, the most likely equation for this study is the more pedestrians and cars sharing the road, the more likely a fatal incident is to occur. Our findings saw that states with highly populated urban metro areas tended to be near the top of our list for most dangerous states for pedestrians. Case in point would be our top two states sharing the New York City metro area, which is the largest metro in the country. The following states also are home to some of the largest metro areas in the country.
To rank states by most dangerous for pedestrians, we analyzed National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) data for types of persons involved in fatal car crashes. Specifically, we looked at the total number of pedestrians involved in a fatal car accident as a percentage of total persons in fatal car accidents. We compared each state's percentage of pedestrian fatalities over a period from 2013 to 2017. States ranking are from 1 being the most dangerous to 50 being least dangerous for pedestrians.
Rankings
| Rank | State | Total Pedestrian Fatalities | % of Pedestrian Fatalities |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Jersey | 813 | 28.18 |
| 2 | New York | 1460 | 26.94 |
| 3 | Delaware | 147 | 24.83 |
| 4 | Nevada | 373 | 24.42 |
| 5 | Rhode Island | 71 | 24.06 |
| 6 | California | 4053 | 23.79 |
| 7 | Hawaii | 115 | 22.24 |
| 8 | Massachusetts | 384 | 21.50 |
| 9 | Florida | 3023 | 21.40 |
| 10 | Maryland | 528 | 21.12 |
| 11 | Arizona | 850 | 19.01 |
| 12 | New Mexico | 326 | 18.32 |
| 13 | Connecticut | 237 | 17.09 |
| 14 | Alaska | 58 | 16.47 |
| 15 | Michigan | 781 | 15.90 |
| 16 | Texas | 2790 | 15.47 |
| 17 | Washington | 394 | 15.45 |
| 18 | Oregon | 314 | 15.30 |
| 19 | Louisiana | 546 | 14.70 |
| 20 | Georgia | 980 | 14.26 |
| 21 | Utah | 184 | 14.06 |
| 22 | South Carolina | 628 | 13.72 |
| 23 | North Carolina | 926 | 13.58 |
| 24 | Illinois | 689 | 13.54 |
| 25 | Pennsylvania | 776 | 13.08 |
| 26 | Virginia | 473 | 12.46 |
| 27 | Colorado | 343 | 12.36 |
| 28 | Alabama | 502 | 11.02 |
| 29 | Ohio | 582 | 10.74 |
| 30 | Indiana | 438 | 10.71 |
| 31 | Oklahoma | 344 | 10.31 |
| 32 | New Hampshire | 60 | 10.30 |
| 33 | Missouri | 434 | 10.16 |
| 34 | Maine | 76 | 9.96 |
| 35 | Tennessee | 491 | 9.82 |
| 36 | Minnesota | 182 | 9.53 |
| 37 | Kentucky | 343 | 9.30 |
| 38 | Mississippi | 298 | 9.10 |
| 39 | Vermont | 27 | 8.97 |
| 40 | Wisconsin | 246 | 8.67 |
| 41 | Arkansas | 218 | 8.47 |
| 42 | West Virginia | 116 | 7.49 |
| 43 | Kansas | 146 | 7.37 |
| 44 | Montana | 73 | 7.14 |
| 45 | Iowa | 109 | 6.44 |
| 46 | Nebraska | 72 | 6.38 |
| 47 | South Dakota | 40 | 6.15 |
| 48 | Idaho | 68 | 6.10 |
| 49 | North Dakota | 29 | 4.51 |
| 50 | Wyoming | 24 | 3.88 |
Dangerous metro areas by population
1. New Jersey
New York–Newark pop. 19,979,480
2. New York
New York–Newark pop.19,979,480
3. Delaware
Wilmington–Philadelphia pop. 6,096,370
4. Nevada
Las Vegas–Henderson pop. 2,231,650
5. Rhode Island
Providence–Warwick pop. 1,621,340
6. California
Los Angeles–Long Beach–Anaheim pop.13,291,490
San Francisco–Oakland pop. 4,729,480
San Diego–Carlsbad pop. 3,343,360
7. Hawaii
Honolulu pop. 802,459
8. Massachusetts
Boston–Cambridge–Newton pop. 4,875,390
9. Florida
Miami–Fort Lauderdale–West Palm Beach pop. 6,198,780
Tampa–St. Petersburg pop. 3,142,660
Orlando–Kissimmee pop. 2,572,960
Jacksonville pop. 1,534,700
10. Maryland
Baltimore–Towson–Columbia pop. 2,802,790
Methodology
QuoteWizard analyzed NHTSA data on persons killed in fatal car crashes. We looked at total pedestrian fatalities as a percentage of total people in fatal car crashes. We then evaluated pedestrian fatalities as a percentage of total fatalities in a span from 2013 to 2017. State rankings are from 1 (highest rate of pedestrian fatalities) to 50 (lowest rate of pedestrian fatalities).
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