Pedestrian Safety

The issue of pedestrians being killed or seriously injured on California roadways is severe and worsening. With more people walking for work, school, shopping, recreation, and exercise, the risks are growing, even as walking is promoted as a healthy, positive, and community-building alternative to driving. The Office of Traffic Safety, in collaboration with the State Transportation Agency, Caltrans, CHP, DMV, and various advocacy groups, aims to raise public awareness about the dangers pedestrians face in order to reduce injuries and fatalities on California’s roadways.

• 2018: 893 pedestrians were killed on California roadways, a 26% increase from 2014.
• 2018: More than 14,000 pedestrians injured.
• Pedestrian deaths rose 26% percent between 2014 and 2018.
• Nearly 7,500 pedestrians have died in California between 2009 and 2018.
• California’s pedestrian fatality rate is almost 25% higher than the national average.
• No state has more pedestrian deaths on its roadways than California.

It’s a two-way street. Drivers and pedestrians must work together to demonstrate safe behaviors on the road, helping to protect themselves and those around them.

• Don’t speed, follow the speed limit and never use your phone; always be cautious of your surroundings.
• Never drive under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.
• Look out for pedestrians, especially in hard-to-see conditions such as at night or in bad weather.
• Pedestrians have the right of way at any crosswalk or intersection, so yield and be prepared to stop.
• Stop at the crosswalk stop line to give drivers in other lanes an opportunity to see and yield to pedestrians too.
• Be cautious when backing up – pedestrians, especially young children, can move across your path.

• Make yourself visible: wear bright colored clothes and carry a flashlight if you are walking at night.
• Avoid dangerous behaviors: always walk on the sidewalk (no jaywalking), stay sober and make eye contact with drivers – don’t assume the driver can see you.
• Stay off your phones, talking and especially texting distracts you from paying attention to your surroundings.
• Look before you step: cross streets at marked crosswalks/intersections, obey traffic signals and watch for turning vehicles.
• Look left-right-left before crossing a street.

• Use hand signals.
• Always use lights at night – at least front white light and rear red reflector – and wear a helmet.
• Bicyclists must travel in the same direction of traffic and have the same requirements as any slow-moving vehicle.
• Use the bike lane, if available, unless making a left turn, passing, or approaching a place where a right turn is allowed.
• Stop for pedestrians. Bicyclists must yield the right-of-way to pedestrians within marked crosswalks or within unmarked crosswalks at intersections

• For safety tips on how to be a pedestrian: Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center
• For helpful tips to keep your children safe as a pedestrian: Safe Kids
• For additional safety tips, research and statistics on pedestrians: NHTSA
• Learn how to get your child to school safely: Safe routes to school
• Learn how to take action to create safe roads: Slow Roads Save Lives