ALL children are pedestrians at some point. Between 2017-2020, 2,409 children and adolescents died from pedestrian injuries. In CSN's infographic, All Children are Pedestrians! Prevention Tips and Recent Stats, you can learn more about how pedestrian injury death rates differ by age, sex, race/ethnicity, urbanicity, location, time of day and ways you can help keep children safe.
All Children are Pedestrians!
Prevention Tips and Recent Statistics
- Approximately 600 children and adolescents die from pedestrian injuries each year.
- More than 3 in 4 pedestrian injuries in children and adolescents are related to motor vehicle traffic.
Age
Compared to children ages 5-9 or 10-14:
- Children ages <1-4 die at more than two times the rate
- Adolescents ages 15-19 die at nearly three times the rate
Age Group |
Rate Per 100,000 |
| <1-4 | 0.9 |
| 5-9 | 0.4 |
| 10-14 | 0.4 |
| 15-19 | 1.2 |
Sex
Male children and adolescents die at approximately 1.7 times the rate of female children and adolescents.
| Sex | Rate per 100,000 |
| Male | 0.9 |
| Female | 0.5 |
Race/Ethnicity
American Indian/Alaska Native children and adolescents have the highest pedestrian injury death rate.
| Race/Ethnicity | Rate per 100,000 |
| White | 0.6 |
| Black | 1.1 |
| American Indian/ Alaska Native | 2.0 |
| Asian | 0.3 |
| Hispanic | 0.8 |
Did you know?
- Children and adolescent pedestrian death rate (per 100,000) in non-metro areas is nearly 1.4 times the rate in metro areas.
- Most pedestrian fatalities occur at night (59%). *
Prevention Recommendations**
Behavioral Changes
- Enforce speed limits
- Reduce distracted driving
- Reduce distracted walking
- Educate pedestrians and drivers on rights and responsibilities of all road users
Environmental Changes
- Construct sidewalks, overpasses, underpasses, and raised medians to separate pedestrians from other traffic
- Install streetlights
- Create marked crossings
- Improve vehicle safety features