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While Los Angeles is making gains in becoming a more walkable city—such as the installation of a pedestrian scramble at Hollywood and Highland—it unfortunately has the distinction of being the deadliest place in the country for pedestrians.
A recent analysis by the Auto Insurance Center found that Los Angeles County has the highest death toll for pedestrians. Using 2014 data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, it found that 284 pedestrians were killed in L.A. County—three times higher than Maricopa County in Arizona (home to Phoenix), the next-deadliest county in America.
"The city of Los Angeles is home to some of the worst traffic in the country and a population second only to New York City," says the analysis, "so it isn't shocking that the county has nearly three times as many pedestrian fatalities than the next-highest location." However, other big cities such as New York and Boston don't experience such high pedestrian fatality rates, possibly because of their heavily utilized public transportation, they suggest.
Other Southern California counties with high pedestrian death rates include San Diego (#4, 84 fatalities), San Bernardino (#6, 66), and Riverside (#14, 51).
Unsurprisingly, the study says the deadliest intersection in the country is also in Los Angeles County, in Redondo Beach. The three-way intersection of Vincent Street and Central Court is unfortunately right by a pre-school and near several churches, a park, and not far from Redondo Union High School.
The analysis also breaks down the data into state, age and gender. Men by far make up the majority of pedestrian deaths. "It probably has something to do with the fact that men are much more likely to both binge drink and take unnecessary risks than women," says the center.
So drivers, pay attention when you're on the road and yield to pedestrians. And for pedestrians, cross only when safe and after looking both ways.
[via L.A. Weekly]
Editor's Note: This story originally stated that there were 44 pedestrian deaths at the intersection of Vincent Street and Central Court in 2014. Sergeant Shawn Freeman of the Redondo Beach Police Department tells LAist that figure is incorrect, but did not say how many pedestrian fatalities were at that intersection in 2014.
