Full Citation

Title: Assessing equity and Urban/Rural road safety disparities in the US

Citation Type: Journal Article

Publication Year: 2017

ISBN:

ISSN:

DOI: 10.1080/17549175.2017.1310748

NSFID:

PMCID:

PMID:

Abstract: Road fatalities erase more healthy years of life than cancer and heart disease combined. Considering safety as a health impact begs the question: Who is most impacted? Are there urban/rural differences? How equitable are impacts along racial/ethnic lines or with income differences? Via spatial analysis of over 970,000 geocoded US road fatalities over a 24-year period, our results show that Americans are not bearing these impacts equitably. We find road fatality disparities across racial/ethnic lines, particularly for pedestrians/bicyclists in predominantly black or Hispanic neighborhoods. Lower income neighborhoods suffer from vehicle occupant fatality rates 3.5X higher than wealthier neighborhoods. Also, residents of our most rural areas endure fatality rates approximately 6X higher than our most urban areas. This suggests that transportation and land use planning intended to facilitate more access with less mobility can reduce unnecessary exposure and lead to outcomes on par with the safest developed countries in the world.

Url: https://rsa.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17549175.2017.1310748#.Xe65ry2ZM1I

User Submitted?: No

Authors: Marshall, Wesley E.; Ferenchak, Nicholas N.

Periodical (Full): Journal of Urbanism

Issue: 4

Volume: 10

Pages: 422-441

Data Collections: IPUMS NHGIS

Topics: Land Use/Urban Organization, Other

Countries: United States