Yet, transportation officials only spend about 1 percent of federal transportation safety money to protect people who walk, even in high foot-traffic areas, according to the report.
Senior citizens are at particularly high risk.
In addition, an average of 1,000 children under the age of 18 are killed every year while walking. Of all people killed in car crashes between 1986 and 1995, one in seven were pedestrians, the equivalent of one large plane crash every two weeks. Typically, we think of drivers and passengers, not walkers, thanks to public education about the dangers of driving drunk, better seat belt laws and mandatory crash testing. That has to change. We need to switch our priorities.