Black people are twice as likely as white to be killed in Kansas City traffic crashes
Black people are twice as likely to be killed in traffic crashes in Kansas City as white people, according to a new report from the city.
The report found that fatal and serious injury crashes do not occur evenly by race. Black, non-Hispanic, people accounted for 46% of the crashes, yet Kansas City’s Black population is only 27%.
“This shows that black users have been 2.0 times more likely to be killed in a traffic crash than a white user from 2010 – 2020,” the Kansas City Vision Zero Action Plan report said.
Black Kansas Citians are also almost four times as likely to be injured in a traffic crash than white people, according to the report.
The report is part of the city’s Vision Zero initiative, which aims to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 2030 while increasing safe and equitable mobility for everyone. It is part of a global movement looking at ways cities are designed to make sure streets are safe for everyone.
It comes at a time that traffic safety both locally and nationally is getting worse. Kansas City, however, ranks among the worst cities in the nation for traffic deaths and serious injuries.
When compared to peer cities, Kansas City ranks the fourth worst. Memphis, St. Louis and Atlanta are the only similar cities with worse fatal crash rates, according to the report.
In early January, the City Council approved a nearly $1.3 million construction contract for traffic calming measures — speed humps, curb extensions, chicanes and raised crosswalks — at about 50 locations throughout the city.
The City Council also in January approved a nearly $1.4 million contract for intersection improvements at the city’s most dangerous intersections.
On Friday, city leaders and staff gathered at Missouri and Troost avenues in the Columbus Park neighborhood to show the safety upgrades installed at that intersection. That intersection was identified as one of the city’s most dangerous.
The action plan report also highlighted other equity issues, including:
▪ People in their late 20s and early 30s accounted for the largest number of fatal and serious injury crashes, with those between 25 and 29 years old 1.8 times more likely to be involved in such crashes than average.
▪ Males also made up a disproportionate amount of traffic deaths, accounting for 73% of such such crashes.
▪ Teens in disadvantaged communities with high poverty rates and minority populations have obstacles to obtaining driver’s licenses because they may not have an adult who can spend the time driving with them to obtain the necessary number of hours to get a full license.
▪ Fatal or serious injury crashes are twice as likely to happen in disadvantaged areas compared to non-disadvantaged areas.
▪ As many as 20 percent of all serious injury crashes and 30% of pedestrian and bicyclist serious injury crashes are never reported to the police. The problem is worse among minorities.
The city faces a significant challenge in reaching its goal.
An analysis of crash data between 2010 and 2020 found that fatal and serious injury crashes in Kansas City rose by 37% overall. Fatal crashes jumped the most, increasing 74%. Meanwhile, serious injury crashes increased by 28%, according to the report.
There were a total of 53,598 fatal, serious and non-serious injury crashes in the city between 2010 and 2020, resulting in an estimated $3.3 billion a year cost to society, according to the report.
To achieve its goal of zero fatalities, Kansas City has outlined equity, speed, high crash locations, high risk locations, walking and biking, angle crashes, fixed object crashes and male drivers, reckless drivers and young drivers as key focus areas.
This story was originally published August 26, 2022 at 3:22 PM.
