New federal data reveal that pedestrians from racial and ethnic minority groups are disproportionately filling U.S. emergency departments after being struck by motor vehicles. Drawing on near real-time records from about 301 million emergency department visits between January 2021 and December 2023, researchers found 137,325 visits involved a pedestrian injury, an overall proportion of 45.62 pedestrian injury visits per 100,000 total visits.
The burden was not shared equally. Visit proportions for pedestrian injuries were 1.53 to 2.47 times as high among six racial and ethnic minority groups as among non-Hispanic White patients. Non-Hispanic multiracial persons or persons of another race had visit proportions 2.47 times as high as White persons, non-Hispanic Asian persons 2.23 times as high, non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native persons 2.13 times as high, non-Hispanic Black or African American persons 1.93 times as high, Hispanic or Latino persons 1.70 times as high, and non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander persons 1.53 times as high.
Authors note that “unsafe walking environments and limited investment in infrastructure for pedestrians” can stem from “historical segregation and disinvestment in neighborhoods based on race and income,” and stress that these social and structural inequities contribute to injury risk. They argue that “timely pedestrian injury data can help…identify disparities” and support the Safe System approach, a framework “designed to protect all road users” and “help prevent pedestrian injuries and address social and structural inequities.”
See: “Emergency Department Visits for Pedestrians Injured in Motor Vehicle Traffic Crashes — United States, January 2021–December 2023” (May 2, 2024)