Raleigh-Cary Area Rated Sixth Most Dangerous Metro Area For Pedestrians

According to a new study, the Raleigh-Cary area has been rated the sixth most dangerous metro area in the nation for pedestrians, meaning they have a high risk of personal injury or death.

According to a report released on November 9 by Transportation for America, a coalition of more than 300 national groups that lobbies for transportation improvements, in 2007 and 2008, 43 pedestrians died in traffic areas in the Raleigh-Cary area. The study says that is a rate of 2.02 pedestrian deaths for every 100,000 residents.

The report also said that in a suburban area where only 1.6 percent of local residents walk to work, the high death rate gives the area a Pedestrian Danger Index of 128.6.

The danger list, which ranked the 50 largest metro areas in the U.S., was dominated by suburban regions that had seen rapid growth and had fewer than two percent of workers who walked to their jobs.

Also in North Carolina, the Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord area ranked 12th on the list with a total of 43 pedestrian deaths in 2007 and 2008, giving it a rate of 1.29 pedestrian deaths per 100,000 residents in an area with only 1.2 percent of workers commuting by foot.