Based on population, children younger than age 16 are most likely to be struck by motor vehicles. Pedestrians ages 10-15 have the highest nonfatal injury rates. Elderly pedestrians, though less frequently struck than children, are more likely to die after being struck. The pedestrian death rate per capita among people age 65 and older has decreased since 1950, but this age group still has the highest pedestrian death rates. Starting at age 65, the rate is nearly twice as high as it is for people younger than 65.
Males are more likely than females to be in pedestrian collisions.
Males constitute about 70 percent of pedestrian deaths each year. Alcohol impairment plays a major role in adult pedestrian deaths just as it does in passenger vehicle occupant deaths. The percentage of fatally injured adult pedestrians with high blood alcohol concentrations decreased slightly from 37 to 34 percent during 1980-99. During the same time, the percentage of all fatally injured motor vehicle drivers with BACs this high decreased from 47 to 28 percent. In nighttime crashes, more than 50 percent of fatally injured pedestrians 16 and older have high blood alcohol concentrations.