How Safe Are Pedestrians in Eagle Rock?

A national advocacy group that examined nearly a decade’s worth of data ranked the Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area as the 27th-most dangerous area on a list of 52 of the most hazardous metros for pedestrians across the country.

The group, Transportation for America, mapped out the more than 47,000 pedestrian deaths nationwide from 2000 to 2009. According to the organization’s figures, at least 12 people were killed in Eagle Rock during that period (compared with 10 in neighboring Highland Park).

The most recent fatality in Eagle Rock occurred on April 3, 2007. Judging from the map, which can be viewed here, an 81-year-old woman was killed south of Colorado Boulevard and north of Chickasaw Avenue, between Highland View Avenue and Hermosa Avenue.

The full Transportation for America report notes that pedestrians are the victims of 12 percent of all traffic accidents. The main cause of their deaths, the report suggests, is roads poorly designed for pedestrian safety.

According to a section of the report titled “Dangerous by Design 2011,” more than 688,000 pedestrians were injured nationwide in traffic-related accidents from 2000 to 2009—equivalent to a pedestrian being struck by a car or a truck every seven minutes.

Despite the alarming figures, “little public attention—and even less in public resources—has been committed to reducing pedestrian deaths and injuries,” says the report, adding: “On the contrary, transportation agencies typically prioritize speeding traffic over the safety of people on foot or other vulnerable road users.”

The report makes a number of recommendations on how to make America’s roads safer, including expansion of sidewalks, trails and bike lanes—as well as prioritizing walkers and de-prioritizing traffic speed in designing side streets and connector roads.