Cities alarmed by deaths and injuries of pedestrians are taking efforts to make crosswalks safer for people on foot , especially seniors and children who need more time to cross streets .
A pedestrian is killed in a traffic accident in the USA every 110 minutes；one is injured every nine minutes, according to official date. Crosswalk can be especially dangerous for the elderly. Among people 70 and older, 36% of pedestrian deaths in 2006 occurred in crosswalks, compared with 21% of those younger than 70 , according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
The Federal Highway Administration（FHWA）advises that next year states increase by nearly 15% the amount of time traffic lights provide for pedestrians to cross the street after the flashing orange hand appears .
FHWA spokesman Doug Hecox says reasons for the change include an aging population that needs more time to cross, health-conscious Americans walking more , children encouraged to walk to prevent getting overweight and high gas prices pushing people to walk instead of drive.
Pedestrian deaths went down by 12% from 5,449 in 1996 to 4,784 in 2006 . But among those in 2006, 471 were killed in crosswalks, down slightly from 488 ten years earlier, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says .

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深受行人发生伤亡事故困扰的几座城市正在作出种种努力，以确保行人、特别是过马路需要更多时间的老少行人穿越马路更加安全。

根据官方数据统计，在美国每过110分钟就会发生一起行人致死的交通事故；每隔9分钟发生一起行人受伤的交通事故；过马路对老年人可能更加危险。保险行业协会提供的公路安全险的数据表明，2006年，在年龄为70岁及以上的老人中，有36%的老人死亡事故发生在人行横道上；而在70岁以下的人员中，同类事故比例仅为21%。

联邦公路管理部门发布公告，明年各州在引入桔色闪烁指针标志后，届时给行人穿越人行道的交通信号灯时间将增加近15%。

联邦公路管理部门发言人Doug Hecox解释说，作出这一改变的理由包括：老年人穿越马路需要更多时间；有健康意识的美国人开始更多地步行；孩子被鼓励步行以防止身体超重；高油价促使人们以步行代替开车。美国国家公路交通安全管理部门说， （在新措施实行之后，）行人死亡数量由1996年的5449人降到2006年的4784人，减少12%。但是在2006年，仍有471名行人死于穿越人行道时发生的事故中，仅比10年前的488人略有下降。