New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law defines a pedestrian as any person afoot or in a wheelchair and includes people on personal conveyances such as roller skates, skateboards and scooters. Recognizing that pedestrian safety continues to be a serious concern in New York State, GTSC provided funding to ITSMR to analyze the data collected on motor vehicle crashes involving pedestrians. These research notes present information about pedestrian crashes, fatalities and injuries and examine a number variables related to pedestrian crashes including environmental characteristics, alcohol involvement, crash contributing factors and pedestrian actions.

Key Findings

• Pedestrian safety continues to be a serious concern. Pedestrians accounted for almost one quarter of the fatalities on New York’s roadways during the years 2016-2020.
• New York City remains the area of greatest concern, accounting for more than 4 out of 10 pedestrian fatalities and more than 7 out of 10 pedestrians injured during the years 2014-2018 and 2016-2020.
• In both studies half of the pedestrians killed were ages 55 and older.
• While year-to-year fluctuations in the numbers of pedestrians killed or injured in motor vehicle crashes occurred between 2016 and 2020, the numbers of pedestrians killed or injured in 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in the US, saw a sharp decline compared to previous years.

CRASHES INVOLVING PEDESTRIANS ON NY ROADWAYS: 2016-2020
(Published February 2022)

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CRASHES INVOLVING PEDESTRIANS ON NY ROADWAYS: 2014-2018
(Published October 2019)

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