Walking is both a form of exercise and a mode of transportation.  Maintaining pedestrian safety is a key element in preventing motor vehicle injuries and fatalities.

• Pedestrian motor vehicle crash deaths have declined dramatically since 1975 but still account for 11 percent of crash deaths.  The highest rates of pedestrian deaths in motor vehicle crashes per 100,000 people occur in people ages 70 and older.¹
• Children are especially at risk for pedestrian injuries and fatalities.  In 2006, children 15 years old and younger represented 20 percent of the total population and accounted for almost 20 percent of all nonfatal pedestrian injuries, 7 percent of all pedestrian fatalities, and 18 percent of non-traffic related fatalities, this includes incidents in drive-ways and other non-public roads.² 
• On average, a pedestrian is killed in a traffic crash every 110 minutes and injured in a traffic crash every 9 minutes.³

What are the solutions?

• The vision of the Maryland Department of Transportation’s “Twenty Year Bicycle and Pedestrian Access Master Plan” is for Maryland to have a safe and convenient option of walking and bicycling for transportation, recreation, and health.  Its transportation system will be designed to encourage walking and bicycling, and will provide a seamless, balanced and barrier-free network for all. ⁴
• Physically separating pedestrians from motor vehicle traffic with physical barriers, using pedestrian bridges, overpasses, underpasses, traffic islands and other similar measures, could reduce the instance of injury prevention and death. 
• Design communities that favor pedestrian access (e.g., more sidewalks and pedestrian malls) and combine residential, work, and shopping areas into close geographic units. Such proximity would decrease residents’ reliance on motor vehicles for daily errands and activities. ⁴
  

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References:

1. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Fatality Facts: Pedestrians. 2001.
2. NHTSA Traffic Safety Facts, 1998: Pedestrians. Washington, D.C.: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1999. DOT HS 808 958. Available: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/
January 7, 2000.
3. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Safety Facts: Pedestrians. Arlington (VA): IIHS, 1999. Available: www.iihs.org/safety_facts/fatality_facts/peds.htm, January 7, 2000.
4. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Pedestrian Injury Prevention. 2002