New York Ranks 8th in the Nation for Pedestrian Fatality Rate at Urban Intersections

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

• 623 pedestrians died at New York’s urban intersections between 2019 and 2023, averaging 124.6 deaths every year.

• 0.64 per 100,000 residents is New York’s annual pedestrian fatality rate at urban intersections, the 8th highest in the nation and 1.52 times the national average of 0.42 per 100,000.

• New York ranks 3rd in total fatalities nationally with 623 deaths, yet falls to 8th by per-capita rate.

In New York, pedestrian signals are supposed to protect the people who use them. They’re supposed to create order, mark safe crossing times, and tell drivers when people on foot have the right of way. Yet across the state’s urban intersections, more than 600 pedestrians who followed those signals still died before reaching the other side.

According to an analysis by DeHoyos Accident Attorneys, pedestrian fatalities occurring specifically at urban intersections across all 50 U.S. states were examined from 2019 to 2023, with fatality rates calculated per 100,000 residents to allow fair comparison across states of different population sizes. Source data were drawn from two institutions: the NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), accessed via cdan.dot.gov, and U.S. Census Bureau population figures.

New York Ranks 8th Among All 50 States in Urban Intersection Pedestrian Fatality Rate

New York’s rate of 0.64 per 100,000 residents annually places it 8th nationally by per-capita rate, yet 3rd by total volume with 623 deaths. This divergence reflects the state’s large population of nearly 19.6 million — raw numbers are high, but the rate per resident remains below that of smaller states like Nevada and New Mexico. Still, at 1.52 times the national average, New York’s rate is significantly elevated and represents a persistent pedestrian safety challenge at urban intersections.

New York vs. Its Neighbors: Above the National Average Across the Northeast

New York’s rate of 0.64 per 100,000 is the lowest among the top-ranked northeastern states, yet still substantially above the national average. New Jersey at 0.81 and Maryland at 0.72 both exceed New York, while Connecticut at 0.52, Delaware at 0.56, and Pennsylvania at 0.39 fall below. New Hampshire at 0.23 represents the far lower end of the northeastern spectrum, illustrating significant variation even within the same region.

21 States Exceed the National Average, New York Ranks 8th by the Margin

New York’s rate of 0.64 per 100,000 is 1.52 times the national average and the eighth-largest deviation above the benchmark at +0.22. The gap between New York’s rate and the lowest-risk state, West Virginia at 0.07 per 100,000, stands at 9.1 times, a spread that underlines profoundly unequal pedestrian safety conditions across the country.

The Nation’s Safest States: A Stark Contrast With New York

West Virginia’s rate of 0.07 per 100,000 annually is one-sixth the national average of 0.42, and just 10.9% of New York’s rate. All 10 of the safest states record rates at or below 0.23 per 100,000, and seven of the ten safest states record rates below half the national benchmark. New York’s rate is 3.9 times higher than the average rate of these ten safest states (0.162 per 100,000).

Methodology

This analysis examined pedestrian fatalities occurring specifically at urban intersections across all 50 U.S. states from 2019 to 2023. Fatality rates were calculated by dividing each state’s total intersection pedestrian deaths over the five years by the state’s 2023 population estimate, annualizing the result, and expressing it per 100,000 residents to allow fair comparison across states of varying size. Data on fatalities was sourced from the NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), accessed via cdan.dot.gov, while population figures were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau. All state rankings in the primary findings are based on the per capita fatality rate rather than raw totals, which would otherwise favor larger states regardless of actual risk level.

Data Sources

• NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS): https://cdan.dot.gov/query
• U.S. Census Bureau, Population by Age by State: https://data.census.gov/table?q=population+by+age+by+state
• Research Dataset: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1i8Wu6HKcpcE7WnGbNgbGQkty_pezEIoZCmnodokvnlc/edit?gid=0#gid=0
• Study by: https://www.dehoyosinjury.com/

About DeHoyos Accident Attorneys

The study was conducted by DeHoyos Accident Attorneys, a Houston-based personal injury law firm that represents clients in vehicle collisions, slip-and-fall disputes, dog bites, and wrongful death cases. The firm, led by Ryan A. DeHoyos, prioritizes client care, aggressive advocacy, and maximizing compensation across Greater Houston.

Website: https://www.dehoyosinjury.com/