As we approach ‘Keep Kids Alive Drive 25 Day’ on May 1, it’s worth considering a harrowing statistic: every day in the United States, over 40 children are hit by a car while walking. Additionally, the fifth leading cause of injury-related death for 5-19 year-olds is being struck by a vehicle, with teens dying at twice the rate of younger children and accounting for half of all child pedestrian deaths.
In this study, we’ll consider where speeding in neighborhoods puts kids most at risk, how child pedestrian risk varies across the country, and what we can do to lower harrowing child fatality and injury statistics.
Let’s start by considering child fatality rates in the U.S. since 2020.
Child Pedestrian Fatality Rates In The USA
In the U.S. between 2020 and 2024, 1,000 child pedestrians up to the age of 15 were killed. During the period in question, 2022 featured the highest number of child fatalities: 217.
Child Pedestrian Fatalities Per Year
The child pedestrian fatalities in question occurred in a wide range of locations. And when we break down the fatality numbers by incident site, the results are alarming. In many cases, the child pedestrian is killed in a place that might justifiably be deemed safe. And in others, many factors contribute to the tragic deaths of child pedestrians.
Child Location When Fatality Occurred (ages 0-15, 2020-2024)
As the statistics clearly show, travel lanes are by far the most dangerous places for child pedestrians. Travel lanes are not designed for pedestrians and rarely feature sidewalks.
They’re predominantly ‘traffic-only’ spaces, along which vehicles usually travel at significant speeds. A collision with a child in such a location is statistically highly likely to result in a fatality due to a child’s physical vulnerability.
The reasons for a child’s presence on a travel lane may be numerous, but ultimately, for safety reasons, children should not enter such perilous spaces. For younger children, an inability to properly see or appreciate risk may be a factor; for older children, risk-taking behavior may be a significant factor.
When it comes to crosswalks, better driver and child awareness is often a key determining factor. Again, children may struggle to anticipate danger, while drivers may fail to observe correct protocol, may fail to yield, and may not perceive the presence of a child pedestrian, particularly when it’s dark, and the child in question is not wearing reflective clothing.
It’s also important to note that a child (particularly a younger child) is especially vulnerable if unaccompanied by an adult, and if they’re crossing alone as opposed to in a pair or group.
Crosswalks are meant to be safe places for children, yet the high number of child pedestrian fatalities tells us that a far better appreciation of risk is necessary for both drivers, parents, and children.
Sidewalks should be safe places for children: after all, they’re meant for pedestrians. When we look at child pedestrian fatalities that occur on sidewalks, the onus is clearly on drivers to observe boundaries, with erratic driving the primary issue. In many cases, drunk, speeding drivers enter the sidewalk with catastrophic results.
Yet poor design regarding the confluence of roads and sidewalks can contribute, with a lack of adequate pedestrian safety measures prevalent in such instances. Once again, children unaccompanied by adults can represent a high fatality risk.
Intersections are potentially highly dangerous places. When serious accidents occur, a combination of factors is often in play. Once again, younger children are particularly vulnerable in such spaces and may not adequately perceive danger levels or vehicle proximity; additionally, they’re often not physically able to withstand a high-speed car impact.
Poor intersection design may also contribute. Primarily, it’s a matter of poor driving decisions and behavior: failure to yield, driving while distracted, driving while impaired, and speeding are all key factors, and often combine to exacerbate incidents.
It’s a similar story when we consider child fatalities that occur on bicycle lanes, paved shoulders, and parking lanes. Predominantly, driver distraction, driver impairment, speeding, and a general lack of due diligence and caution are determining contributors. E-bikes are a growing problem on bicycle lanes.
While a child’s failure to perceive threat may again be an issue, the predominant factor is a matter of irresponsible or wayward driving.
Dangerous driving in and around school zone parking lots and non-traffic areas is a significant killer for similar reasons. Clusters of children moving in multiple directions during busy times are often difficult to fully perceive.
Poor driving habits, a failure to keep to low speed limits, and children not keeping to designated walkways can be a problem, as can poorly designed school zone areas that combine traffic with swarms of arriving or exiting children.
Here are some key data points regarding school zone child pedestrian fatalities during the study period (2020-2024).
- 14 different states were subject to school zone child fatalities.
- Maryland and New York jointly suffered the highest number (3).
- Michigan and Delaware were next with 2 fatalities.
- California, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming all reported 1 school zone fatality.
- 2023 saw the highest number of school zone fatalities. Here’s a breakdown of each year’s statistics.
- 2020 — 0
- 2021 — 6
- 2022 — 0
- 2023 — 8
- 2024 — 6
Although the overall fatality count is low, deaths on driveways are often due to a failure to fully observe a child’s movement around a moving car or even to know a child is nearby.
According to Kidsafe data, most child deaths in this context occur in the driveway of the child’s own home or in a friend’s or relative’s driveway. The driver is usually a parent, relative, or family friend. Here are some other key data points.
- In 85% of cases, the driver has no idea a child is close to the vehicle as it moves; they usually believe that the child is being looked after elsewhere.
- Incidents primarily involve children under the age of 5, most of whom are around 2 years old.
- All cars have a blind spot, some extending up to 15 meters, and it’s often this factor that’s key when it comes to child deaths on a driveway.
- Although any vehicle can be involved in a driveway runover, it’s usually an SUV or four-wheel drive vehicle, a utility vehicle, a truck, or a van.
- Most driveway fatalities occur between 8 am and 10 am, and between 4 pm and 6 pm, the hours just before and just after school time.
Intersection Fatalities (ages 0-15, 2020-2024)
| Intersection Type | Fatalities |
|---|---|
| At Intersection | 172 |
| Intersection Related | 93 |
| Not at Intersection | 702 |
| Non-Trafficway Location | 26 |
The problem varies across the United States. The list of areas that feature the highest child pedestrian fatality rates (as measured per 100,000 of the population) includes urban, rural, northern, and southern states.
States Featuring The Highest Child Pedestrian Fatality Rates (aged 0-15, 2020-2024)
22 of the total child pedestrian fatalities that occurred between 2020 and 2024 happened on the local streets of 13 states.
- Arizona reported the most (5).
- Illinois had the second-highest total (3).
- Michigan, Nevada, and Virginia all reported 2 child pedestrian fatalities on local streets.
- Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, and Washington all reported 1 child pedestrian fatality on a local street.
- 2024 saw the most local street fatalities (9); as for other years:
- 2023 had 6
- 2022 had 0
- 2021 had 5
- 2020 had 2
Wherever child pedestrian fatalities occur, speeding is often a significant contributory factor.
Child Pedestrian Fatalities Caused By Speeding
Between 2020 and 2024, 103 child pedestrian fatalities were caused by or involved speeding. Here are the states that were subject to the highest rate of child pedestrian fatalities due to speeding, measured per 100,00 of the population.
States Featuring The Highest Rate Of Child Pedestrian Fatalities Involving Speeding (aged 0-15, 2020-2024)
Of the 1,000 child pedestrian fatalities recorded over the study period, the following list represents the speed limits of the areas where fatalities occurred, with the vast majority recorded in places subject to between 25mph and 45mph limits.
Posted Speed Limits Of Child Pedestrian Fatality Locations
| Speed Limit | Fatalities |
|---|---|
| 5 MPH | 2 |
| 10 MPH | 11 |
| 15 MPH | 19 |
| 20 MPH | 16 |
| 25 MPH | 164 |
| 30 MPH | 95 |
| 35 MPH | 137 |
| 40 MPH | 88 |
| 45 MPH | 140 |
| 50 MPH | 29 |
| 55 MPH | 112 |
| 60 MPH | 21 |
| 65 MPH | 41 |
| 70 MPH | 17 |
| 75 MPH | 9 |
The following list tells us the actual speed at which vehicles that fatally struck children were travelling during the collision. The five speeds listed are the five most common reported speeds.
Top 5 Reported Vehicle Speeds When A Fatal Collision Occurred
| Colliding Vehicle Speed | Fatalities |
|---|---|
| 45 MPH | 44 |
| 40 MPH | 36 |
| 55 MPH | 32 |
| 35 MPH | 30 |
| 5 MPH | 28 |
763 of the 1,000 fatalities happened in urban areas, with 216 occurring on rural roads, and 21 featuring an unrecorded area type.
Some national holiday periods feature a heightened level of fatality risk. Here’s a list of the number of holiday child pedestrian fatalities during the study period.
| Holiday | Fatalities |
|---|---|
| Thanksgiving | 18 |
| Memorial Day | 16 |
| Fourth of July | 14 |
| Labor Day | 8 |
| New Year’s Eve | 7 |
| Christmas | 4 |
| New Year’s Day | 3 |
In terms of the type of vehicle involved in child pedestrian fatalities, light trucks and passenger cars dominate the danger list.
Vehicle Involvement In Child Pedestrian Fatalities
| Vehicle Type | Fatalities |
|---|---|
| Light Utility Truck | 313 |
| Passenger Car | 295 |
| Light Pickup Truck | 203 |
| Other | 64 |
| Large Truck | 50 |
| Light Truck Van | 42 |
| Bus | 25 |
| Motorcycle | 7 |
| Light Truck (Other) | 1 |
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Georgia Child Pedestrian Fatalities
Overall, between 2023 and 2024, Georgia’s pedestrian fatalities decreased by 8%. Cobb County’s 2024 figures tell us that there were 14 pedestrian fatalities, just higher than the pre-pandemic average of 12. Here are some other key Georgia child pedestrian fatality facts.
- In Cobb County, while just 0.2% of all car crashes involve fatalities, when a pedestrian is involved, that number jumps to 10%.
- One major Cobb County worry is a lack of safe crossing places. Over 11 years, 58% of fatally injured pedestrians were hit while crossing outside a crosswalk.
- Generally, most fatal Cobb County pedestrian collisions occur at night. In 45% of crash cases, pedestrians were imperiled by a lack of streetlights.
- About 3% of pedestrian fatalities were due to impaired drivers.
- Data covering 2013-2022 suggests that more than 40% of pedestrian deaths in Cobb County involved distracted drivers, in most cases due to cell phone use.
- More than half of all pedestrian crashes occurred within the Atlanta region (58%).
- In 2023, nearly three-quarters of pedestrian fatalities (72%) and nearly half (47%) of pedestrian injuries occurred on roads featuring speed limits at or above 45 mph.
- In 2023, hospitalization and emergency room visit charges totaled $203 million for the 3,445 Georgia pedestrians injured in motor vehicle traffic and non-traffic-related crashes.
- In 2023, 70 out of 159 Georgia counties suffered at least one non-motorist traffic fatality. The counties with the highest number of pedestrian fatalities were DeKalb (55 pedestrian fatalities), Fulton (32), and Cobb (18).
Georgia Counties Featuring The Most Non-Motorist Serious Injuries And Fatal Crashes (2023)
| Category | Rank | Highest Count (County / Number) | Highest Serious & Fatal Injury Rate (County / Rate) | Highest Non–Motorist Crash Rate per 100,000 MV Crashes (County / Rate) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pedestrians | 1 | Fulton – 164 | DeKalb – 17.82 | Camden – 593.47 |
| 2 | DeKalb – 136 | Fulton – 15.20 | Walker – 518.13 | |
| 3 | Cobb – 53 | Clarke – 14.62 | Polk – 483.09 | |
| 4 | Gwinnett – 49 | Richmond – 14.60 | Spalding – 392.93 | |
| 5 | Clayton – 42 | Clayton – 14.08 | Clarke – 387.68 | |
| Bicyclists | 1 | Fulton – 19 | Floyd – 5.99 | Floyd – 180.83 |
| 2 | Chatham – 17 | Chatham – 5.60 | Chatham – 121.44 | |
| 3 | Richmond – 10 | Richmond – 4.87 | Richmond – 117.77 | |
| 4 | Gwinnett – 10 | Fulton – 1.76 | Clayton – 37.94 | |
| 5 | DeKalb – 7 | Clayton – 1.68 | Fulton – 35.85 |
Census Designated Places (CDPs) with the Highest Pedestrian Serious Injury and Fatality Rates (per 100,000 population) by Region, 2021-2023
| Region Type | CDP | Pedestrians Seriously or Fatally Injured | CDP Pedestrian Injury Rate per 100,000 | Ratio (CDP Rate / Regional Rate) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Region (11 counties) | College Park | 24 | 173.07 | 4.8 |
| Panthersville | 15 | 169.68 | 4.7 | |
| Belvedere Park | 15 | 103.86 | 2.9 | |
| Doraville | 11 | 102.04 | 2.8 | |
| Jonesboro | 6 | 97.72 | 2.7 | |
| Other Urban (30 counties) | Hiram | 7 | 130.77 | 4.6 |
| Dock Junction | 5 | 56.91 | 2 | |
| Savannah | 84 | 56.85 | 2 | |
| Macon | 82 | 52.39 | 1.8 | |
| Brunswick | 8 | 51.93 | 1.8 | |
| Rural (118 counties) | Cedartown | 10 | 97.09 | 4 |
| Thomson | 5 | 72.89 | 3 | |
| Americus | 11 | 70.05 | 2.9 | |
| Vidalia | 6 | 55.86 | 2.3 | |
| Thomaston | 5 | 50.63 | 2.1 |
Main Contributing Factors: Serious Injuries/Fatal Pedestrian Crashes (2023)
| Rank | Drivers Contributing Factors | Pedestrian Contributing Factors |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Driver failed to yield | Pedestrian failed to yield |
| 2 | Confirmed or suspected distracted driver | Confirmed distracted pedestrian |
| 3 | Speeding or aggressive driving | Pedestrian not visible |
| 4 | Driver vision was obscured, or the pedestrian was not visible | Ignored signage or traffic control |
| 5 | Under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol | Under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol |
Between 2019 and 2023, Georgia suffered 22 fatal school bus-related crashes, with 24 people of all ages fatally injured. Two of those fatalities were school-aged children under 18 years old. One died while using school transport, and one was a pedestrian.
Curbing The Threat To Child Pedestrians
With ‘Keep Kids Alive Drive 25 Day’ fast approaching, there’s no better time to seriously consider the threat to our young pedestrians. Cars striking children is the fifth leading cause of injury-related death for 5-19 year-olds.
Generally, pedestrian deaths are increasing at a rate far faster than overall traffic fatalities. Between 2009 and 2023, pedestrian deaths rose by a staggering 80% (during the same period, all other traffic fatalities increased 13%).
The rising popularity of SUVs and pickups on U.S. roads has increased the share of pedestrian deaths caused by SUVs and pickups, with such vehicles far more likely to cause a fatality upon impact, especially when a small child is involved. And in 2023, light trucks accounted for 54% of pedestrian fatalities where a vehicle type was known, compared to 37% involving passenger cars.
Children may struggle to anticipate danger, while drivers may fail to observe correct protocol, may fail to yield, and may not perceive the presence of a child pedestrian
For children, some of the areas that represent the highest danger levels are not particularly surprising. Travel lanes, for example, are meant for vehicles, not pedestrians.
Crosswalks and intersections can be dangerous places, but in some parts of the country, they’re significantly more dangerous than elsewhere, partly due to poor road design and infrastructure, but also due to errant driver behavior.
Yet in many cases, apparently safe places represent a threat. Neighborhood sidewalks, meant for pedestrians, are the site of an alarming number of child pedestrian accidents and fatalities, often due to a failure to properly separate them from roads. Though the fatality numbers are comparatively small, driveways also represent a potential threat.
And school zones – places in which children are especially entitled to feel safe – continue to feature an alarming number of accidents and fatalities.
There are some simple and effective ways parents or guardians can limit tragic accidents involving children. In 85% of driveway accident cases, the driver is completely unaware of the affected child. Advisory data suggests that driveways are best treated with the same vigilance as roads, with children kept away from them unless supervised.
There are other safe practices all children should routinely observe to avoid danger. Parents should make sure that their children:
- Cross the street at the street corner or at a designated crosswalk.
- Look left, right, and left again whenever they cross the street.
- Make eye contact with drivers before they cross.
- When possible, use sidewalks or designated paths.
- Remember: ‘Heads Up, Phones Down’ when crossing the street.
- Wear visible, reflective clothing so drivers can see you when it’s dark.
As for drivers, the usual recommendations apply: don’t drive while under the influence of any kind of drug, while overtired, and adhere to speed limits at all times. (Child pedestrian fatalities in U.S. neighborhoods are frequently linked to speeding, with speeding-related deaths among children under 15 doubling from 5.8% to 11.9% in recent years.)
Better observation of these basic driving musts would ensure the survival of many tragically lost young pedestrians.
If you or your child were struck by a negligent driver while walking, you may well be dealing with a devastating injury, staggering medical bills, and other accident-related challenges.
At Jones & Swanson, we know how difficult it is to move forward after a serious pedestrian accident. That’s why our Marietta pedestrian accident lawyers are here to help you.
