In many areas, intersections with crosswalks may be as much as a half-mile apart, leaving pedestrians with no safe way to cross the street. As with automobile fatalities, the total number of pedestrian deaths has dropped slightly over the last few years. However, while the amount of driving is increasing, the amount of walking is decreasing. This may mean that driving is getting safer per mile while walking is not. Some groups of people appear to be at particular risk as pedestrians, including children, the elderly, and Latinos.
Children also rely more heavily on walking to go places.
The states with the highest death rates for children in 1997-1998 were South Carolina, Mississippi, Utah, North Carolina, Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Alaska, and Louisiana. A Threat to Health Poor conditions for walking are contributing to a steep drop in how much Americans walk. According to the Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey, the number of trips taken on foot dropped by 42 percent in the last 20 years. Among children, walking trips dropped by 37 percent in the same timeframe, and now almost 70 percent of children s trips take place in the back seat of a car. And walking is not getting any easier.