Another result of urban sprawl: increased traffic fatalities

Here are some statistics from the article in CityLab demonstrating the safety of compact cities versus sprawling ones:

• Tokyo, a city of more than 13 million, has 1.3 such deaths [traffic fatalities] per 100,000 residents. London, home to more than 8.6 million people, reports just 1.6 traffic deaths per 100,000. In Hong Kong, population 7.2 million, the figure is just 1.8 per 100,000.
• Sprawl does the opposite, with deadly effects. Consider Atlanta, a notoriously sprawling city. At 9.7 deaths per 100,000 people, its traffic-fatality rate is three times that of far denser New York City (3.2 per 100,000).

Here is a sobering paragraph from the article:

     Traffic deaths—especially in and around cities—are emerging as one of the critical public health problems of the 21st century. Already, 1.24 million people around the world die in motor vehicle crashes every year. Among people age 15 to 29, who should have many years of health and productivity ahead of them, traffic crashes are the leading cause of death. [emphasis added] For children age 5 to 14, crashes are the second-leading cause. Pedestrians and cyclists account for more than a quarter of those killed on roads. And as urban populations boom and motor vehicles proliferate, researchers project that by 2030, crashes will be the fifth-leading cause of death for the general population.