Washington ? The rate at which children were hit and killed in traffic was cut almost in half during the 1990s as fewer children walked to school and improvements in traffic safety prevented deaths, according to a report to be released today.

According to the National SAFE KIDS Campaign, 475 pedestrians under 15 years old were killed while walking in public roadways in 2000, compared to 861 in 1990.

In 1969, about half of elementary school children walked or biked to school, the study said. By 1995, the government’s Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey of 5- to 9-year-olds found that 10 percent of children walked to school, 53 percent traveled by car and about 30 percent rode school buses.

Children are most likely to be hit and killed from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., the study found. Of those children killed while walking in roadways, only 29 percent were struck at intersections.

The pedestrian death rate also changes significantly by age, race and sex, according to the report. Children under 9 have a rate 20 percent higher than 10- to 14-year-olds. The death rate for black children is more than twice that of whites, and boys die 57 percent more often than girls.

Wednesday is International Walk to School Day, and SAFE KIDS and FedEx volunteers will visit schools across the country to teach children how to be safe when walking to school.