PRESS RELEASE

New Report Finds Older Connecticut Pedestrians at Risk

Analysis shows people aged 60 years and older suffer disproportionately high pedestrian fatality rates

Older pedestrians are far more likely to be killed while walking than their younger neighbors, according to a new study by the Tri-State Transportation Campaign. This is especially true in Connecticut where fatality rates for older pedestrians are far higher than in the rest of the country.

Between 2006 and 2008, 43 pedestrians aged 60 years and older were killed on Connecticut roads. Though comprising just over 17 percent of the state’s population, people aged 60 and older accounted for more than 40 percent of the total pedestrian fatalities during the three-year period. Those aged 75 years and older represent just 7.1 percent of the Connecticut’s population, but nearly 19 percent of pedestrian deaths.

Nationwide, pedestrian collisions are the 5th leading cause of accidental death for people aged 60 and older. And pedestrian fatality rates for older Americans are more than 50 percent higher than for those under 60 years.

But the disparities in Connecticut are even greater, with pedestrian fatality rates for people 60 years and more than three times the rate for those younger than 60 years. People 75 years and older suffer a fatality rate that is more than 3.7 times that of their younger neighbors.

The Campaign’s analysis found that Waterbury was the most dangerous place in Connecticut for older people to walk, as measured by the percentage of pedestrian fatalities who were 60 years and older, and excluding cities with fewer than 3 total pedestrian fatalities during the period. Bristol, New Britain, North Haven, Norwalk, and Bridgeport were ranked close behind. The table below provides details for those places.

The Campaign recommended new and expanded efforts to improve safety for seniors. One example is for the Connecticut Department of Transportation to create a Safe Streets for Seniors program modeled on the New York City Department of Transportation’s successful program. This program identified 25 neighborhoods across New York City needing pedestrian safety improvements for older residents. NYCDOT engineers identify areas with high numbers of older pedestrian fatalities and make improvements such as extending pedestrian crossing times at crosswalks and shortening crossing distances, altering curbs and sidewalks, restricting vehicle turns, and narrowing roadways.

“Transportation departments in the region should improve senior safety with programs that target resources to specific locations where seniors face the greatest risk. Such efforts are especially needed on Long Island and in Connecticut where walking seniors face very dangerous conditions,” said Kate Slevin, the Campaign’s executive director.

"The sobering data showing the disproportionate number of older pedestrians killed in traffic accidents reinforce the need for state and local governments to elevate efforts to ensure the safety of this rapidly growing segment of Connecticut's population and for motorists--and older adults themselves--to be cautious," said Connecticut Commission on Aging Executive Director Julia Evans Starr.  "This is especially true because as a group, today's older adults are more active and mobile than prior generations and therefore more likely to be traveling throughout their communities."  

Tri-State staff analyst Michelle Ernst conducted the Campaign’s analysis using data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and the U.S. Bureau of the Census to examine fatality rates by age and gender for each county in New Jersey, downstate New York and Connecticut.

The full report, as well as county fact sheets and maps showing the locations of pedestrian fatalities throughout the region can be found at www.tstc.org.

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The Tri-State Transportation Campaign is a non-profit organization working toward a more balanced, transit-friendly and equitable transportation system in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut.