01333535

Component

Non-motorized modes of transportation such as walking and cycling provide physical health and fitness benefits. However, pedestrian and cyclists are more vulnerable than motorists in traffic collisions. Safety culture at home countries can potentially distinct immigrants from native-borns in crash involvement. This difference may diminish over time as immigrants’ behaviors assimilate towards native-borns. We describe this process as safety assimilation. In this study, we analyzed pedestrian and bicyclist crashes in New York City between 2001 and 2003 at census tract level. We looked into foreign-born population, their origins and time of entry into the United States to explore their effects on pedestrian and bicyclist crashes. Our results demonstrated that neighborhoods with higher concentration of immigrants, especially those from Latin America, Eastern Europe and Asia are associated with more crashes. The safety assimilation process we hypothesized is partially validated. Our findings demonstrate a higher level of vulnerability of immigrants in pedestrian and bicyclist crash. We propose that targeted policies and programs need to be developed for immigrants of different origins.

01329018

11-3515

English

19p

2011

Transportation Research Board 90th Annual Meeting

DVD

Maps (1) ; References (46) ; Tables (2)

Behavior; Crash injuries; Crashes; Cyclists; Highway safety; Immigrants; Pedestrians; Risk assessment; Safety education

Vulnerability

Asia; Eastern Europe; Latin America; New York (New York)

Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Safety and Human Factors; I84: Personal Injuries

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2011 Paper #11-3515

TRIS, TRB

Feb 17 2011 6:32PM