Black and Hispanic Americans suffered a higher rate of traffic fatalities than whites, according to a report published on June 7 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Researchers from Boston and Harvard Universities found that the traffic fatality rate for Blacks was 4.5 times higher while cycling compared to whites, even though whites biked at almost four times the distance per capita as Blacks.

Black pedestrians died 2.2 times higher than whites, and 1.8 times higher while riding or driving in light-duty vehicles. The disparities were similar between Hispanics and whites.

The report is based on an analysis of the 2017 National Household Travel Survey, which the researcher said is the most recent nationally representative travel-diary survey of transportation activity in the United States.

According to the researchers, the findings suggest that structural racism in the nation’s transportation system contributes to the racial disparities they found. For example, they point to underinvestment in pedestrian walkways and bike lanes in communities of color, as well as slower emergency response times in those communities and less access to quality health care.

“We have created a system where walking and cycling are more dangerous than driving, and where Black and Hispanic Americans are at greater risk of fatality per mile traveled than White Americans,” study corresponding author Matthew Raifman, a Boston University School of Public Health doctoral candidate, stated.

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“It’s important to consider these disparities in traffic fatalities within the context of a transport system that suffers from racial bias—from the placement of roads, to traffic stops, to the way that ride-hail applications pair riders with drivers.”

The researchers called for an increase in resource investment in communities of color.