Los Angeles had the second-most traffic-related pedestrian fatalities in a new report issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
The report comes in a year when SoCal law officials and lawmakers have said hit-and-run incidents and other deadly collisions are on the rise. The new report indicates fatalities nationwide hit a five-year high in 2012, the year addressed in the report.
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Los Angeles was listed as second in the report, after New York City, with 242 traffic-related fatalities recorded in 2012 -- of which 99 involved pedestrian deaths.
The NHTSA said on Friday that it is awarding grants to three cities to increase public education aimed at improving pedestrian safety. Louisville, New York City and Philadelphia will receive a total of $1.6 million as part of the department's "Everyone is a Pedestrian" campaign to stymie the rise of pedestrian deaths.
"These are parents, these are children, these are our fathers and mothers and grandparents who are being affect by traffic crashes when they're in their most vulnerable state," said David Friedman, the acting head of the NHTSA. "They don't have two tons of metal, glass and plastic surrounding them."
Los Angeles was not included as a city to receive safety grants, but some SoCal lawmakers, such as Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Los Angeles), are pushing for stricter driver penalties that could contribute to safer streets.
There were 4,743 pedestrian deaths in the U.S., an increase of more than 6 percent from the previous year, according to the NHTSA report released on Friday. The number of pedestrian deaths has increased every year since 2009.
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California had the highest number of pedestrian fatalities with 612 deaths in 2012, followed by Texas (478) and Florida (476). California, with a population of 38 million, had 1.61 pedestrian fatalies per 100,000 people.
Delaware had the highest rate of pedestrian fatalities per 100,000 people -- 2.94.
Nearly three-quarters of pedestrian deaths took place in urban areas and 70 percent occurred at non-intersections. This means jaywalkers were at a higher risk of dying than those who cross at proper intersections.
The report also breaks down statistics by age, gender and time of day. Pedestrians ages 65 or older accounted for 20 percent of fatalities and about 9 percent of injuries. Nearly 70 percent of those killed were male and 32 percent of fatalities occur at night, according to the report, which includes data curated from the census bureau.
Scroll down to see how Los Angeles and California stack up against other cities and states:
Sources: Census Bureau, NHTSA
