Lawmakers in Santa Ana, California, and Los Angeles have begun a process to make their cities safer and more pedestrian friendly as a result of the overwhelming death toll of pedestrians and bicyclists, most of which are Hispanics and blacks.

According to the National Household Travel Survey, blacks make up 12 percent of all pedestrian traffic, and Hispanics account for 14 percent. Between 2003 and 2012, more than 47,000 people died while walking on the street.

The same data found that 19 percent of pedestrian fatalities are Hispanics, and more than 17 percent are black, Al-Jazeera America reported.

In Santa Ana, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that in 2010 and 2011, there were 13 pedestrian fatalities, and eight of them were Hispanic, ranging between the ages of 3 and 76 years old.

Santa Ana is currently drafting a bike/walk master plan as only eight of Orange County's 34 cities have one, Santa Ana Councilwoman Michele Martinez said.

"We're always going to be at the top of the list, not because we're not doing our job but because of how many people walk," said Martinez, who is the Alliance for a Healthy Orange County director. "I don't believe it has anything to do with color. It's just density."

Awareness and advocacy for pedestrian safety has risen in the last few years as amount of deaths that have resulted from vehicles striking pedestrians and bicyclists become more alarming.

The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously in May to sponsor state legislation to introduce a California-wide alert system for fatal hit-and-run incidents similar to Amber Alerts when a child has been abducted, Al-Jazeera reported.

Tony Dang, deputy director of California Walks, a nonprofit pedestrian advocacy group, said the California Department of Transportation found that traffic from pedestrians and bicyclists have doubled from 8 percent to 16 percent in the last decade.

Statewide, pedestrians and bicyclists accounted for 53 percent of all fatal and severe-injury collisions in 2011. Since then, California has passed the Active Transportation Program, which ideally helps to make walking and bicycling safer as it encourages active modes of transit.

The Active Transportation Program is expected to give $360 million to state communities, and "at least 25 percent of the funds are supposed to go to disadvantaged communities," Dang said.

Santa Ana applied for 10 grants from the program, which would amount to $6.1 million, according to Al-Jazeera.

"Santa Ana is experiencing a renaissance in how they're approaching street design," Dang said. "It comes form a long history of pretty terrible rankings. Santa Ana is No. 1 in the state for pedestrian fatalities and injuries for children under 15."