Friday Night Is California’s Deadliest Time for Pedestrians

More than half of California’s fatal pedestrian crashes happen between 6 p.m. and midnight. The single worst three-hour period is even more specific: Friday evening.

If you want to know when California’s pedestrian death toll surges, start with Friday night.

An analysis of statewide crash data found that 51% of fatal pedestrian crashes in California occurred between 6 p.m. and midnight in 2023. The peak period for the entire week was Friday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Another 9% of fatal pedestrian crashes happened between midnight and 6 a.m.

The numbers come from UC Berkeley’s Safe Transportation Research and Education Center, known as SafeTREC. Researchers there studied data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System and the California Highway Patrol’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System.

California’s most severe pedestrian crashes happen mostly after dark.

But the data show a more complicated picture than just telling pedestrians to watch out at night.

More Than 1,100 Pedestrians Died in California in One Year

California recorded 1,106 pedestrian traffic deaths in 2023, according to both SafeTREC and the California Office of Traffic Safety. Pedestrians made up about 27% of all motor vehicle deaths in the state that year.

California also had more pedestrian deaths than any other state in 2023. NHTSA reported 1,106 deaths in California, compared with 800 in Texas and 771 in Florida.

The statewide numbers, broken down by time and place:

• 51% of fatal pedestrian crashes occurred from 6 p.m. to midnight.
• Friday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. was the peak three-hour period of the week.
• 47.2% of fatal pedestrian crashes occurred on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.
• 92% of fatal pedestrian crashes occurred in urban areas.
• 39% happened on principal arterial roads. Another 22% happened on minor arterials.
• Los Angeles County recorded 273 pedestrian deaths, more than any other California county.
• San Bernardino County followed with 120 deaths. Riverside recorded 85. San Diego recorded 84. Orange County recorded 70.

Taken together, the data point to a pattern that crashes cluster on urban roads after dark, near the end of the week.

Friday Evening Is the Deadliest Time for Pedestrians

SafeTREC divided the week into three-hour blocks. Friday between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. had the highest concentration of fatal pedestrian crashes in California in 2023.

That does not mean every Friday evening is more dangerous than every Saturday night. It does not mean 7 p.m. is some uniquely dangerous hour, either.

It means that when researchers counted California’s fatal pedestrian crashes and sorted them by day and time, this three-hour period had more crashes than any other.

The broader evening pattern stands out even more. More than half of the state’s fatal pedestrian crashes happened during the six hours between 6 p.m. and midnight.

National data show something similar.

NHTSA found that 77% of pedestrians killed nationwide in 2023 were struck in dark conditions. Only 19% were struck in daylight, and 2% each were struck at dawn and dusk. Nationally, the largest three-hour period for pedestrian deaths was 6 p.m. to 8:59 p.m., which accounted for 26% of fatalities. The period from 9 p.m. to 11:59 p.m. was close behind, at 24%.

In other words, California’s nighttime pedestrian problem fits into a much larger national pattern.

The Season Changes the Deadliest Hours

The national data also show why naming one “most dangerous hour” can be misleading.

Sunset moves throughout the year, and pedestrian deaths move with it.

NHTSA found that during winter, 34% of pedestrian deaths occurred between 6 p.m. and 8:59 p.m. During spring, the peak moved later, with 28% occurring between 9 p.m. and 11:59 p.m.

The shift became even more pronounced during summer. From June through August, 35% of pedestrian deaths occurred between 9 p.m. and 11:59 p.m. Only 12% occurred between 6 p.m. and 8:59 p.m. during those months.

In fall, the earlier evening period became dominant again. 32% of pedestrian deaths happened from 6 p.m. through 8:59 p.m.

That seasonal shift shows darkness plays a bigger role in these crashes than the actual time on the clock.

The Federal Highway Administration has identified nighttime visibility as a major roadway-safety issue. FHWA notes that reduced visibility makes nighttime driving harder. The agency says adequate roadway lighting can help drivers see pedestrians and other road users. Research cited by FHWA found that improved lighting can reduce nighttime pedestrian injury crashes at intersections.

Most Fatal California Pedestrian Crashes Happen in Cities

SafeTREC found that 92% of California’s fatal pedestrian crashes in 2023 occurred in urban areas. Principal arterials accounted for 39% of those crashes. Minor arterials accounted for another 22%.

Arterials are major streets built to move a lot of traffic through cities. They often combine several traffic lanes and higher speeds. At the same time, they carry commercial businesses, bus stops, driveways, and people crossing on foot.

These streets force two different jobs to coexist. They need to move vehicles efficiently. They also need to provide access to homes, stores, restaurants, and transit.

The numbers point to something bigger than a driver’s or pedestrian’s actions in the final seconds before a crash. Road design, lighting, traffic speed, crossing distances, and visibility all shape the conditions that lead to a crash.

Los Angeles County Alone Recorded 273 Pedestrian Deaths

No California county recorded more pedestrian fatalities than Los Angeles County.

SafeTREC counted 273 pedestrian deaths in Los Angeles County in 2023. That was roughly one-quarter of California’s 1,106 pedestrian deaths that year.

Raw totals do not mean Los Angeles had the highest pedestrian fatality rate. Counties with far smaller populations can rank much higher when deaths are adjusted for population.

SafeTREC reported that Inyo County had the state’s highest pedestrian fatality rate in 2023, at 10.7 deaths per 100,000 residents. Lake, Glenn, Trinity, and Humboldt counties followed.

A county can have the largest number of deaths simply because it has millions of residents and heavy traffic. That does not mean it has the highest death rate per resident.

Does This Mean Friday Night Is the Most Dangerous Time to Walk?

The answer is no, and that gets to one of the biggest limits of this data.

FARS and SWITRS can tell researchers when crashes occurred. They cannot, by themselves, tell us how many people were walking during each period.

Suppose 100 fatal crashes happened during an hour when 10 million pedestrian trips took place. Now suppose 20 fatal crashes happened during an hour when only 100,000 pedestrian trips took place. The first hour would have far more deaths. But the second hour could have a much higher fatality rate compared to how many people were actually walking.

That is why the California numbers support the statement that more fatal pedestrian crashes occur during certain evening periods. They do not prove that an individual pedestrian is more likely to die during those periods.

Answering that different question would require reliable data on how many people walk at different times of day. Crash counts and crash risk are not the same thing.

Crash Data Also Do Not Automatically Determine Fault

Another common mistake is using statewide crash statistics to guess who caused a specific collision.

SafeTREC specifically warns that data categories such as a “pedestrian violation” or a “pedestrian right-of-way” violation do not, by themselves, determine legal fault.

California law places duties on both drivers and pedestrians.

Under California Vehicle Code Section 21950, drivers must yield to pedestrians crossing in marked crosswalks and in unmarked crosswalks at intersections. Drivers approaching those crosswalks must also use caution. They must slow down or take other action if needed to protect the pedestrian.

The same law requires pedestrians to use reasonable care for their own safety. It also prohibits pedestrians from suddenly stepping into the path of a vehicle that is so close it creates an immediate hazard.

Outside marked or unmarked intersection crosswalks, Vehicle Code Section 21954 generally requires pedestrians to yield to approaching vehicles that pose an immediate hazard. But the law also states that this does not remove a driver’s duty to use due care for a pedestrian in the roadway.

Liability depends on the specific facts of each crash. Statewide timing and location patterns cannot decide fault in an individual case.

What the Data Really Tell Us

There is no single “deadliest hour” that explains California’s pedestrian safety problem.

There is, however, a clear pattern.

Fatal pedestrian crashes cluster heavily during evening and nighttime hours. Friday evening produced the largest single three-hour block in California’s 2023 data. More than half occurred between 6 p.m. and midnight. Nearly half occurred during the final three days of the week. And the overwhelming majority happened in urban areas.

The most revealing part of this data is the environment where these deaths repeatedly happen. Crashes cluster on urban roads built to move heavy vehicle traffic, after dark, while people are still out walking.

California recorded 1,106 pedestrian deaths in a single year.