UC Berkeley SafeTREC research data analyst Liza Lutzker will be presenting "Trends and disparities in pedestrian injuries and fatalities in hit-and-run crashes" in a poster session at the 2025 Society for Epidemiologic Research (SER) Annual Meeting on June 11th, 2025 in Boston, Massachusetts. This presentation draws from a current research project for the Center for Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety (CPBS) that is examining recent trends and risk factors in pedestrian fatalities and injuries in hit-and-run crashes in California, Tennessee and the U.S.
The purpose of the SER annual meeting is to "bring together epidemiologists from all stages of their career trajectory—from trainees to senior scientists—to discuss emerging epidemiologic research. The annual meeting is at the heart of SER’s mission of promoting epidemiologic research and nurturing junior scholars." Learn more about the session below.
Trends and disparities in pedestrian injuries and fatalities in hit-and-run crashes
Wednesday, June 11, 2025
Poster Session: #2
Time: 6:30pm - 7:30pm
Abstract:
Hit-and-run (HAR) crashes may yield severe injuries due to delays in emergency medical response. Despite changes in driving after COVID-19’s onset, no studies on HAR trends pre- and post-COVID exist, and while some studies examine environmental risks for HAR, none have examined victim race and gender.
California law enforcement agencies submit crash data to the Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS), including environmental data, party characteristics, injury severity, and HAR status. This descriptive study analyzed 2009-22 SWITRS data for single vehicle-pedestrian HAR crash trends and relationships between HAR, injury severity, and both victim and environmental characteristics pre- and post-COVID.
From 2009-22, the percent of HAR crashes increased from 18 to 28%. The percent of HAR crashes that were fatal or serious injury (FSI) crashes increased from 14 to 31%. Both trends increased in the 2010s, with large increases in 2020 and 2021.
Both pre- and post-COVID, Black pedestrians were more likely to be a HAR victim vs non-Black pedestrians; men were more likely to be a HAR victim vs women. Pre-COVID, across race-gender categories, non-Black females had the lowest proportion of HAR (17%) and Black females had the highest (27%). Post-COVID, non-Black females also had the lowest proportion of HAR (23%), but Black males had the highest (36%). The post- vs pre-COVID HAR rate ratio was greatest for Black males (1.37) and lowest for Black females (1.24).
The percent of HAR crashes in dark hours was higher vs non-dark hours (31 vs 18%) and also slightly higher with street lighting present vs absent (31 vs 29%), conditions where drivers can both observe the race/gender of the victim and also flee in darkness. These results provide the basis for further investigation into driver behavior changes relating to the COVID pandemic and race and gender disparities in HAR outcomes.
The conference website provides more information about the meeting and schedule. View the poster session abstract.
The Center for Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety (CPBS) is a Tier-1 University Transportation Center (UTC) supported by the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) and led by the University of New Mexico (UNM). The UC Berkeley SafeTREC team, led by director Julia Griswold, is one of five partnering institutions, along with the University of New Mexico, San Diego State University, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Learn more about SafeTREC's work with the CPBS.