In 2004, 4,641 pedestrians were killed in traffic crashes in the United States — a decrease of 15 percent from the 5,489 pedestrians killed in 1994. On average, a pedestrian is killed in a traffic crash every 113 minutes and injured in a traffic crash every 8 minutes. There were 68,000 pedestrians injured in traffic crashes in 2004. Most pedestrian fatalities in 2004 occurred in urban areas (72%), at nonintersection locations (79%), in normal weather conditions (89%), and at night (66%). More than two-thirds (69%) of the pedestrians killed in 2004 were males. In 2004, the male pedestrian fatality rate per 100,000 population was 2.22 — more than double the rate for females (0.95 per 100,000 population). In 2004, the male pedestrian injury rate per 100,000 population was 27, compared with 19 for females (see Table 5). In 2004, nearly one-fifth (19%) of all children between the ages of 5 and 9 who were killed in traffic crashes were pedestrians. Children age 15 and younger accounted for 8 percent of the pedestrian fatalities in 2004 and 7 percent of all pedestrians injured in traffic crashes. (Author/publisher)
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