Pedestrian injuries in the United States reveal a stark and persistent racial divide, according to a national analysis of more than 376,000 hospitalizations. The study reports that the burden of injury “was higher among Black, Hispanic, and Multiracial/Other groups” across multiple measures, including admission rates, costs per capita, and severity of illness.
Hospitalization rates show some of the clearest disparities. Black residents experienced 15.6 admissions per 100,000 people, while Multiracial/Other groups reached 24.9—both notably higher than the rate for Whites at 13.0. Mortality rates followed a similar pattern, with Blacks and Multiracial/Other groups facing the highest death rates.
Financial and medical consequences also fell unevenly. Costs per capita reached $4.14 for Blacks and $6.30 for Multiracial/Other groups, compared to $2.88 for Whites. Lengths of stay longer than a week were more common among Black, Hispanic, Asian or Pacific Islander, and Multiracial/Other patients. The study notes that “extreme and major loss of function proportions were also highest among Black” patients.
Researchers point to environmental and structural factors that shape exposure to risk. They highlight ties between “neighborhood social inequities, traffic volumes, road design, and road traffic injuries,” as well as evidence of racial bias in driver behavior at crosswalks. These patterns underscore how transportation access and safety function as social determinants of health.
The authors conclude that the persistence of racial disparities calls for “population and system-level approaches to prevention,” including equitable transportation policy and safer built environments.
See: “Racial disparities in pedestrian-related injury hospitalizations in the United States” (September 25, 2020)