Most pedestrian fatalities in the United States happen outside of intersections, on busy multi-lane roads, and after dark. Of the more than 7,300 pedestrians killed in traffic crashes in 2023, roughly 75% were struck at non-intersection locations, meaning they were crossing or walking along a road away from a crosswalk or traffic signal. Only about 15% of fatal collisions occurred at intersections.
Mid-Block Locations Are the Deadliest
The single biggest risk factor for where a pedestrian collision happens is whether the person is at a controlled crossing point. Three out of four fatal pedestrian crashes take place at mid-block locations, stretches of road between intersections where there’s no signal, crosswalk, or stop sign to interrupt traffic flow. These spots force pedestrians to judge gaps in moving traffic on their own, often across multiple lanes.
This doesn’t necessarily mean pedestrians are being reckless. Many neighborhoods simply lack safe crossing options. When crosswalks or signals are spaced far apart, people naturally cross where it’s convenient, especially near bus stops, parking lots, and retail strips.
Arterial Roads Carry Outsized Risk
Not all roads are equally dangerous. The highest concentration of pedestrian deaths occurs on principal arterials and minor arterials, the wide, fast-moving roads that connect neighborhoods and commercial areas. A U.S. Department of Transportation analysis found that the pedestrian fatality risk from traffic on urban principal arterials is nearly five times greater than on interstates, expressways, and freeways.
These roads are especially dangerous because they combine high speeds with heavy pedestrian activity. Think of a four- or six-lane road lined with strip malls, restaurants, and apartment complexes, where the speed limit is 40 to 50 mph and crosswalks may be a half-mile apart. That combination of fast vehicles, frequent foot traffic, and few safe crossings creates the conditions where most fatal crashes cluster.
Darkness Is a Major Factor
Lighting conditions play a striking role. A full 76% of pedestrians killed in traffic crashes were struck when it was dark, with another 4% killed during dusk or dawn. The peak hours for serious and fatal crashes fall between 6 p.m. and midnight, particularly on Friday and Saturday nights. The fastest-growing period for pedestrian crashes during the 2010s was the midnight-to-6 a.m. window on weekdays, suggesting shifts in when people are walking or how drivers behave late at night.
Poor visibility cuts both ways. Drivers have less time to spot and react to a person in the road, and pedestrians have a harder time judging vehicle speed and distance. Unlit stretches of arterial roads, the same high-risk corridors mentioned above, are where darkness and dangerous road design overlap most.
Urban Areas See More Crashes, but Rural Ones Are Deadlier
Pedestrian injuries happen far more often in urban areas, which makes sense given that cities have more people walking near traffic. But a pedestrian struck by a vehicle in a rural area is significantly more likely to die. Research found that the rural fatality risk is 2.3 times higher than in urban settings, even after controlling for the pedestrian’s age, sex, and the posted speed limit.
Several factors explain this gap. Rural roads tend to have higher speeds, fewer streetlights, narrower or nonexistent shoulders, and longer distances to trauma centers. A crash that might result in serious injuries in a city can become fatal in a rural setting simply because emergency care takes longer to reach.
Speed Changes Everything
The speed a vehicle is traveling when it hits a pedestrian is one of the strongest predictors of whether the person survives. Data from crash analyses shows that reducing a road’s speed limit from roughly 37 mph to 31 mph (60 to 50 km/h) produced a 20% drop in pedestrian crashes and a 50% drop in pedestrian fatalities. Even a modest speed reduction dramatically shifts the odds of survival.
Vehicle type matters too. Children struck by an SUV are eight times more likely to die compared to children struck by a passenger car. Pedestrians hit by a pickup truck are about 50% more likely to be killed than those hit by a sedan. The growing share of SUVs and trucks in the U.S. vehicle fleet is one reason pedestrian deaths have climbed over the past decade, even as overall traffic fatalities have remained relatively flat.
Low-Income Neighborhoods Face Greater Risk
Pedestrian crashes are not evenly distributed across communities. Intersections in the poorest neighborhoods see 6.3 times more injured pedestrians than intersections in the wealthiest areas. Part of this is sheer exposure: traffic volumes at intersections in the poorest census tracts are 2.4 times higher than in the richest ones. But the road design itself is also worse. Poorer neighborhoods have 2.6 times as many intersections with major arterial roads and 1.8 times as many four-way intersections, both of which significantly increase crash risk.
Four-legged intersections (standard crossroads) produce 3.4 times more injured pedestrians than T-shaped intersections, because they create more points where a turning or through-moving vehicle can conflict with someone crossing. When researchers accounted for traffic volume and intersection design, about 70% of the gap in pedestrian injuries between rich and poor neighborhoods was explained by these infrastructure differences. In other words, people in lower-income areas aren’t walking more carelessly. They’re walking on more dangerous roads.
States With the Highest Pedestrian Death Rates
Geography matters at the state level too. The five states with the highest per-capita pedestrian fatality rates are:
- New Mexico: 4.97 deaths per 100,000 people
- Arizona: 3.65 per 100,000
- South Carolina: 3.48 per 100,000
- Florida: 3.41 per 100,000
- Nevada: 3.32 per 100,000
These states share common traits: sprawling road networks built around car travel, wide arterial roads through commercial and residential areas, warm climates that keep pedestrians walking year-round, and large populations of older adults who are more vulnerable in a crash. Florida alone recorded 771 pedestrian deaths in a single year.
What Makes a Location Dangerous
Pulling the data together, the typical fatal pedestrian crash in the U.S. happens on a multi-lane arterial road, away from an intersection, after dark, at speeds of 40 mph or higher. The road often runs through a commercial area where people need to walk but where the infrastructure was designed to move cars as quickly as possible. The victim is likely in an urban area, though their chance of surviving would actually be worse in a rural setting.
The pattern points to a design problem more than a behavior problem. Roads that mix high-speed traffic with pedestrian activity, without providing safe crossings, adequate lighting, or lower speed limits, account for the vast majority of deaths. Cities that have reduced pedestrian fatalities have done so by redesigning exactly these corridors: adding crosswalks, installing median refuges so people can cross in two stages, lowering speed limits, and improving lighting on high-risk stretches.