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U.S. crash data suggests that people on a wheelchair are more likely to die by colliding with a car than pedestrians. There is 36% probability of pedestrians in wheelchairs to die in these crashes than other people. Men's risk was higher than that of the female wheelchair users. The data, however, doesn't reveal why the wheelchair users were more vulnerable to these accidents than pedestrians. The findings suggest to the city planners that the people in wheelchairs should also feel safer and that there should be initiatives to make the sidewalk safe for the disabled and normal people alike. The planners need to take into consideration that the people in wheel chair may take longer time to react or move than others, reports Reuters.

The study co-author John Kraemer of Department of Health Systems Administration at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., said in an email, "It is entirely possible that people who use wheelchairs may be at greater risk of death if they are in a pedestrian crash perhaps because drivers are less likely to see them, brake, and collide slower; because being lower to the ground wheelchair users may be hit more squarely; or because some people who use wheelchairs may have pre-existing medical vulnerabilities," as reported by Reuters

Kraemer also said tat it is not clear exactly why there are high fatalities but it is always possible that it is due to poor infrastructure. "A high proportion of crashes occurred at locations without traffic controls or crosswalks," Kraemer said. "When there is poor pedestrian infrastructure or it's poorly adapted to people with mobility impairments, people who use wheelchairs often are forced to use the streets, or are otherwise exposed to greater risk. It also may be telling that, in three-quarters of crashes, there was no evidence that the driver sought to avoid the crash," said UPI.

"These findings underscore the need for policymakers and planners to fully incorporate disability accommodations into pedestrian infrastructure and for persons who use wheelchairs-and others with disabilities-to remain a salient population when road safety interventions are designed," said the authors of the paper, as per Medical Daily